After being rained out on Thursday night, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (61-43, 15-15) played a doubleheader on Friday afternoon against the Worcester Red Sox (54-51, 13-18) at Polar Park.
Before game one, the Philadelphia Phillies sent outfielder Johan Rojas to Lehigh Valley. Aaron Nola and Joe Ross were sent to Lehigh Valley to begin their rehab assignments, and the Phillies designated pitchers Devin Sweet and Brett de Geus from the 40-man roster. Both players, if cleared, can return to Lehigh Valley or opt for free agency.
In game one, Aaron Nola (Major League Rehab) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Kyle Harrison (2-2, 4.78 ERA) of Worcester.
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit a two-run RBI double to center field. Oscar Mercado and Justin Crawford scored for a 2-0 lead. It was Castro’s 18th double of the season and 49th RBI of the year.
At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with one out, but Rodolfo Castro and Rafael Lantigua were unable to bring anyone home. Lehigh Valley starter Aaron Nola pitched three innings. He allowed three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts throwing 47 pitches, of which 31 were strikes.
Joe Ross pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fourth inning. He went one inning, allowing one hit and two strikeouts throwing 15 pitches, of which 10 were strikes. David Robertson pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With a runner on third base and one out, Worcester center fielder Jhostynxon Garcia hit an RBI double to left field. Corey Roser scored, and Lehigh Valley’s lead was now 2-1. Later, right fielder Nate Eaton hit a two-run triple to center field. Jhostynxon Garcia and Vaughn Grissom scored to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
Robertson pitched one inning. He allowed three hits, three runs, one walk, and two strikeouts throwing 30 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had a chance to tie the game at the top of the seventh inning. With one out and runners on the corners, shortstop Rodolfo Castro grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play. The IronPigs lost game one to the Red Sox 3-2.
Lehigh Valley finished game one with nine hits, went 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher David Robertson. The win went to Worcester starter Kyle Harrison, and Alex Hoppe earned the save.
In game two, Nicholas Padilla (4-2, 3.49 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against David Sandlin (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Cal Stevenson hit an RBI single to right field. Rafael Lantigua scored for a 1-0 lead. It was Stevenson’s 38th RBI of the season.
In the bottom of the third inning, Worcester had the bases loaded with one out. Designated hitter Jhostynxon Garcia hit Padilla’s cutter for a grand slam home run at 441 feet to center field, giving the Red Sox a 4-1 lead. It was Garcia’s 13th home run of the season.
That would be it for Padilla. He pitched 2.1 innings, allowing one hit, four runs, three walks, and one strikeout throwing 40 pitches, of which 18 were strikes. Ryan Cusick replaced Padilla. He got the last two outs to end the inning. Cusick allowed one hit and one strikeout throwing 12 pitches, of which five were strikes.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Worcester right fielder Phillip Sikes hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Cal Stevenson. Nathan Hickey scored, and it was now 5-1. The rest of Lehigh Valley’s bullpen pitched five innings, allowing four hits, one run, and two strikeouts.
Lehigh Valley went on to lose to the Red Sox 5-1. They finished the game with five hits, went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Nicholas Padilla. It was his third loss of the season. The win went to Worcester starter David Sandlin.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game five on Saturday at 4:05 pm.
