The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (32-39) and the Worcester Red Sox (35-32) played game two on Wednesday night from Coca-Cola Park. Alan Rangel was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Osvaldo Berrios of Worcester. Before the game started, the Phillies optioned RHP Andrew Painter to Lehigh Valley.
At the top of the first inning, Worcester had a runner on third base when Vinny Capra hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Braiden Ward for a 1-0 lead. Later, Worcester had the bases loaded when Kristian Campbell hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Capra for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Matt Thaiss ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning with two outs, Worcester first baseman Nathan Hickey hit Rangel’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 363 feet to right field for a 3-0 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 94.7 mph. A groundout by Tsung-Che Cheng ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Paul McIntosh hit Ed Rivera’s slider for a solo home run at 435 feet to left field, cutting Worcester’s lead to 3-1. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 110.4 mph. With two outs, a groundout by Rene Pinto ended the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley starter Alan Rangel put two runners on base before he was replaced by Kyle Backhus. With one out, Worcester had the bases loaded when Tyler McDonough hit a soft RBI single to Backhus, scoring Allan Castro for a 4-1 lead. Braiden Ward grounded into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.
Rangel went five innings, allowing six hits, four runs, three walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 98 pitches, of which 66 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit a single to right field with two outs. Keaton Anthony followed up by hitting an RBI double to center field, scoring Kemp, and it was now 4-2. Right fielder Bryan De La Cruz hit Seth Martinez’s sinker for a two-run home run at 419 feet to center field, tying the game 4-4. It was his 11th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 106.2 mph. A flyout by Paul McIntosh ended the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, Kyle Backhus put a runner on first base before he was replaced by Mitch Neunborn. With two outs, a groundout by Mikey Romero ended the inning. Kyle Backhus allowed a hit and a walk, throwing 17 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Mitch Neunborn loaded the bases with nobody out. After getting an out, Neunborn was replaced by Lou Trivino. Neunborn allowed a hit and two walks, throwing 27 pitches, of which 14 were strikes. Trivino went 1.2 innings, allowing a hit, and struck out one, throwing 19 pitches, of which 14 were strikes, to send the game to extra innings.
Evan Gates pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the tenth inning, making his Triple-A debut. Worcester had runners on the corners when Nathan Hickey hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Allan Castro for a 5-4 lead. Tyler McDonough followed up by hitting an RBI single to left field, scoring Matt Thaiss for a 6-4 lead.
With two outs, Vinny Capra hit an RBI single to third base, scoring Nathan Hickory for a 7-4 lead. Anthony Seigler grounded into a forceout at second base, and the inning was over. Gates allowed three hits, three runs, and one walk, throwing 20 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley would go on to lose to the Red Sox 7-4. It is their fourth straight loss. They finished the night with six hits, went 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Evan Gates (0-1), and the win went to Worcester pitcher Kyle Keller (3-2).
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App. Bryse Wilson (3-5, 6.29 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Raymond Burgos (1-4, 7.66 ERA) of Worcester.
