The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (52-59, 17-19) battled the Worcester Red Sox (58-48, 22-13) on Thursday afternoon at Polar Park. Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Eduardo Rivera of Worcester.
The game was scoreless for the first two innings. At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with two outs when Colby Thomas hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Dylan Moore for a 1-0 lead. The inning ended when Felix Reyes struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the third inning, Worcester had runners on the corners when Tsung-Che Cheng hit a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Felix Reyes, scoring Vinny Capra. The game was tied 1-1. With two outs, Franklin Arias grounded out to shortstop Robert Moore for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Worcester had a runner on first base with two outs when Kristian Campbell hit an RBI double to right field, scoring Allan Castro to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. A flyout by Vinny Capra ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with one out when Dylan Moore hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Paul McIntosh, and the game was tied 2-2. Colby Thomas grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Moving to the bottom of the sixth inning, Drake Fellows put runners on first and second base with one out when Allan Castro hit a two-run RBI double to center field, scoring Nate Eaton and Jason Delay to put the Red Sox up 4-2. Two batters later with two outs, Vinny Capra hit Fellows’s slider for a two-run home run at 362 feet to left field for a 6-2 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 95.9 mph.
Drake Fellows was replaced by Kyle Backhus. Fellows went 5.2 innings, allowing six hits, six runs, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 76 pitches, of which 50 were strikes. A groundout by Tsung-Che Cheng ended the inning. Backhus allowed two hits and a run, throwing 18 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
Andrew Bechtold pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. He put runners on the corners with one out when Jason Delay hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Braiden Ward for a 7-2 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Kristian Campbell ended the inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Felix Reyes hit a single to right field before designated hitter Tommy Pham hit Wyatt Olds’s four-seam fastball for a two-run home run at 391 feet to left-center field. It was now 7-4. It was Pham’s sixth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.4 mph. With two outs, Steward Berroa hit a single to left field. He tried to reach second base, but was caught for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrew Bechtold loaded the bases with one out before he was replaced by Ryan Cusick. Franklin Arias hit a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring Vinny Capra and Nathan Hickey for a 9-4 lead. Then, a wild pitch by Cusick brought home Braiden Ward for a 10-4 lead. With two outs, Jason Delay popped out to catcher Paul McIntosh in foul territory for the final out of the inning.
Andrew Bechtold went 1.1 innings, allowing three hits, three runs, and one walk, throwing 32 pitches, of which 16 were strikes, while Cusick allowed a hit, throwing 11 pitches, of which five were strikes.
The IronPigs lost their second straight game to the Red Sox by the final score of 10-4. It is the second straight game they gave up 10 runs. Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 11 hits, went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Tommy Pham went 1 for 3 with a home run, a walk, and two RBIs. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows (3-2), and the win went to Worcester pitcher Seth Martinez (3-2).
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game four on Friday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Alan Rangel (3-5, 4.22 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Alec Gamboa (2-3, 3.47 ERA) of Worcester.
