The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (46-23) concluded the six-game series on Sunday afternoon from Coca-Cola Park against the Worcester Red Sox (37-31). Andrew Painter (2-2, 5.19 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Cooper Criswell (2-1, 1.52 ERA) of Worcester. There was a one-hour and forty-four-minute rain delay.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Worcester pitcher Zach Penrod threw two wild pitches scoring Cal Stevenson and Rodolfo Castro for a 2-0 lead. Moving to the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI double to left field scoring Justin Crawford extending their lead to 3-0. It was Kennedy’s 11th double of the season.
At the top of the eighth inning, Worcester catcher Seby Zavala hit Josh Walker’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 407 feet to left field and it was now 3-1. It was Zavala’s second home run of the season.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when shortstop Rodolfo Castro was hit by a pitch. Gabriel Rincones Jr. scored and it was now 4-1. Justin Crawford had a chance to blow the game open with two outs, but he popped out to third baseman Blaze Jordan for the final out of the inning.
Joel Kuhnel closed out the game for Lehigh Valley. Kuhnel pitched 1.1 innings with three strikeouts throwing 15 pitches, of which 11 were strikes to earn his second save of the season. The IronPigs defeated the Red Sox by the final score of 4-1, splitting the series. The magic number to win the First Half Division is now four games.
The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painter. He pitched five innings, allowing one hit, two walks, and six strikeouts throwing 72 pitches, of which 47 were strikes. The loss went to Worcester pitcher Zach Penrod.
Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro finished the afternoon going 2 for 3 with two doubles, hit by a pitch, and one RBI, while Buddy Kennedy went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and one RBI. The IronPigs continue their homestand at Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday against the Rochester Red Wings at 6:45 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
