The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (35-40) concluded the six-game series and the first half of the season on Sunday afternoon against the Worcester Red Sox (36-35) from Coca-Cola Park. Kolby Allard was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jack Anderson of Worcester. This was Allard’s first start for Lehigh Valley since 2024.
At the top of the first inning with one out, Worcester third baseman Vinny Capra hit Allard’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 380 feet left field to put the Red Sox up 1-0. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 98.7 mph. With two outs, Allard struck out Jason Delay to end the inning.
Moving to the top of the third inning, Worcester had the bases loaded when Jason Delay cleared them with a three-run double to left field, scoring Nathan Hickey, Braiden Ward, and Kristian Campbell for a 4-0 lead. Matt Thaiss followed up by hitting an RBI double to left field, scoring Delay for a 5-0 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Tyler McDonough ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when Christian Cairo hit a two-run RBI triple to right field, scoring Keaton Anthony and Bryan De La Cruz. The IronPigs trailed the Red Sox 5-2. Catcher Paul McIntosh followed up by hitting a single to second base, scoring Cairo, and it was now 5-3. With two outs, a groundout by Dylan Carlson ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Worcester had runners on second and third base when Jason Delay hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Braiden Ward for a 6-3 lead. Matt Thaiss followed up with an RBI triple to right field, scoring Delay for a 7-3 lead. With two outs, Allard struck out Tyler McDonough to end the inning. Kolby Allard went five innings, allowing eight hits, seven runs, three earned runs, and six strikeouts, throwing 83 pitches, of which 60 were strikes.
Tanner Banks pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. He allowed a hit and struck out two, throwing 15 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. Mitch Neunborn pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. He allowed two hits and struck out one, throwing 21 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
Evan Gates pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Worcester piled on more runs. They had runners on first and second base when Max Ferguson hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Tsung-Che Cheng for an 8-3 lead. With the bases loaded, Vinny Capra brought home Nathan Hickey with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 9-3 lead.
Two batters later, Jason Delay hit a two-run RBI triple to right field, scoring Max Ferguson and Braiden Ward for an 11-3 lead. With two outs, Tyler McDonough hit an RBI single to second base, scoring Jason Delay for a 12-3 lead. Gates was replaced by Lou Trivino.
Trivino struck out Tsung-Che Cheng to finally end the inning. Gates allowed three hits, five runs, and three walks, throwing 34 pitches, of which 16 were strikes. Trivino went 1.1 innings, allowing a hit, and struck out one, throwing 16 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
The IronPigs would go on to lose 12-3 to split the series. Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with five hits, committed one error, went 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Christian Cairo went 1 for 3 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard (2-1), and the win went to Worcester starter Jack Anderson (2-4).
The IronPigs continue the homestand to start the second half season on Tuesday against the Syracuse Mets at 6:45 pm on the MLB App.
