The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (52-60, 17-20) played game four against the Worcester Red Sox (59-48, 23-13) on Friday night at Polar Park. Tucker Davidson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Alec Gamboa of Worcester.
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with two outs when first baseman Keaton Anthony hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Dylan Moore to give the IronPigs a 1-0 lead. Left fielder Tommy Pham followed up by hitting an RBI double to right field, scoring Anthony for a 2-0 lead. A flyout by Otto Kemp ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning with one out, Worcester second baseman Mikey Romero hit Davidson’s sweeper for a solo home run at 433 feet to right-center field, cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead to 2-1. It was his 10th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 108.3 mph. With one out and runners on first and second base, Kristian Campbell grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Worcester had runners on second and third base with one out when Allan Castro hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Romy Gonzalez, and the game was tied 2-2. A flyout by Kristian Campbell ended the inning. Tucker Davidson went 3.1 innings, allowing two hits, two runs, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 42 pitches, of which 25 were strikes. Michael Mercado walked one, throwing 12 pitches, of which five were strikes, to get the final two outs of the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Worcester had runners on the corners with nobody out when Franklin Arias hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Tsung-Che Cheng and Braiden Ward to put the Red Sox up 4-2. With two outs, a flyout by Mickey Gasper ended the inning. Mercado went 2.2 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and one walk, throwing 31 pitches, of which 19 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with two outs when Robert Moore hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Paul McIntosh. It was now 4-3. Colby Thomas struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Kirby Snead pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Snead threw 13 pitches, of which eight were strikes, to get three outs. Grant Holman pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Worcester had runners on the corners with one out when Brett Harris grounded to third baseman Carter Kieboom. Mickey Gasper scored for a 5-3 lead as everyone was safe on base. With two outs, Holman struck out Tsung-Che Cheng to end the inning. Holman allowed two hits, one run, and one strikeout, throwing 20 pitches, of which 15 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh hit Angel Bastardo’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 397 feet to center field. It was now 5-4. For McIntosh, it was his seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.1 mph. A lineout by Robert Moore ended the game.
The IronPigs lost to the Red Sox 5-4 for their third straight loss. Lehigh Valley finished the night with hits, committed one error, went 3 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Mercado (4-4), while the win went to Worcester pitcher Noah Song (2-2), and Angel Bastardo earned his second save of the season.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game five on Saturday at 4:05 pm on MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Brian Keller (0-2, 3.09 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Gage Ziehl (6-3, 4.33 ERA) of Worcester.
