The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (33-39) played game three on Thursday night against the Worcester Red Sox (35-33) from Coca-Cola Park. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Raymond Burgos of Worcester.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Phillies recalled RHP Bryse Wilson and RHP Seth Johnson, while optioning LHP Tanner Banks to Lehigh Valley. In addition, the Phillies signed LHP Kolby Allard, who played for the IronPigs in 2024.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Dylan Moore hit a double to center field. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch by Burgos. Felix Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Moore for a 1-0 lead. With one out, Otto Kemp and Keaton Anthony grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning with one out, Lehigh Valley shortstop Christian Cairo worked a four-pitch walk, and Carter Kieboom hit a single to left field, moving Cairo to third base. Catcher Paul McIntosh hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Cairo for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, Dylan Moore was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with two outs when Bryan De La Cruz hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Felix Reyes for a 3-0 lead. A groundout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, with two outs. Worcester center fielder Max Ferguson hit Keller’s cutter for a solo home run to right field. The Red Sox trailed the IronPigs 3-1. It was his first home run of the season. Left fielder Tyler McDonough followed up by hitting Keller’s sinker for a solo home run at 412 feet to right field. The Red Sox trailed the IronPigs 3-2. It was his second home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.6 mph. A flyout by Anthony Seigler ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller went four innings, allowing six hits, two runs, two walks, and seven strikeouts, throwing 85 pitches, of which 53 were strikes.
Gabriel Barbosa pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fifth inning. Worcester shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng hit Barbosa’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 379 feet to right field, tying the game 3-3. It was his seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 107.1 mph.
With two outs, Kristian Campbell grounded into a forceout at second base, and the inning was over. Barbosa went three innings, allowing four hits, one run, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 32 pitches, of which 24 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Christian Cairo hit a double to center field with one out. Carter Kieboom followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring Cairo for a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had runners on second and third base when Dylan Carlson hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Kieboom for a 5-3 lead. With two outs, Dylan Moore struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Ryan Cusick pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. At the top of the ninth inning, Cusick put two runners on with two outs when Allan Castro hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Anthony Seigler. The Red Sox trailed the IronPigs 5-4. Cusick loaded the bases when he struck out Kristian Campbell to end the game. Cusick went two innings, allowing three hits, one run, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 46 pitches, of which 27 were strikes. The IronPigs held on to beat the Red Sox 5-4 and snap a four-game losing streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 11 hits, went 3 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Felix Reyes went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a stolen base. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Gabriel Barbosa (1-0), while Ryan Cusick earned his first save of the season, and the loss went to Worcester pitcher Devin Sweet (1-4).
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game four on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App. Chuck King (3-4, 4.39 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Brayan Bello (0-0, 4.50 ERA) of Worcester.
