The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (52-61, 17-21) took on the Worcester Red Sox (60-48, 24-13) in game five on Saturday afternoon at Polar Park. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Gage Ziehl of Worcester.
In the bottom of the first inning, Worcester had runners on first and second base with one out when Romy Gonzalez hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Adley Rutschman to put the Red Sox up 1-0. Allan Castro followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring Mikey Romero for a 2-0 lead.
Keller loaded the bases when he threw a wild pitch, scoring Romy Gonzalez for a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Tsung-Che Cheng hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Allan Castro and Kristian Campbell for a 5-0 lead. Keller was replaced by Ryan Cusick. With two outs, a flyout by Adley Rutschman ended the inning. Brian Keller allowed four hits, five runs, and three walks, throwing 37 pitches, of which 22 were strikes. Cusick threw eight pitches, of which six were strikes, to get the final two outs of the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Worcester had a runner on first base when Mikey Romero hit Cusick’s slider for a two-run home run to right-center field for a 7-0 lead. It was his 11th home run of the season. With two outs, a flyout by Kristian Campbell ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Cusick loaded the bases with two outs when he hit Tsung-Che Cheng, scoring Mikey Romero for an 8-0 lead. Cusick was replaced by Lou Trivino III. Trivino hit Braiden Ward that made it 9-0 before Adley Rutschman hit a two-run RBI double to right field, scoring Vinny Capra and Tsung-Che Cheng for an 11-0 lead. Nate Eaton followed by hitting a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Braiden Ward and Adley Rutschman for a 13-0 lead. Trivino III struck out Romy Gonzalez to end the inning.
Ryan Cusick went 3.1 innings, allowing six hits, six runs, three walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 59 pitches, of which 35 were strikes. Trivino III allowed three hits, two runs, and one strikeout, throwing 13 pitches, of which eight were strikes.
Max Lazar pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. Worcester had a runner on first base when Kristian Campbell hit a two-run home run to right-center field for a 15-0 lead. It was his fifth home run of the season. With two outs, Jason Delay grounded into a forceout at second base for the final out of the inning. Lazar allowed three hits, three runs, and two strikeouts, throwing 35 pitches, of which 19 were strikes.
Alex McFarlane was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Worcester had runners on second and third base with one out when Allan Castro hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Nate Eaton for a 16-0 lead. With two outs, McFarlane struck out Kristian Campbell to end the inning. McFarlane struck out two, throwing 11 pitches, of which eight were strikes.
Mitch Neunborn was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Worcester had runners on second and third base with one out when Jason Delay hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Vinny Capra for a 17-0 lead. With two outs, a pop-out by Nate Eaton in foul territory, which was caught by Payton Henry, ended the inning. Neunborn allowed a run and two walks, throwing 24 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Position player Steward Berroa pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Berroa loaded the bases when Kristian Campbell grounded into a forceout at third base, scoring Mikey Romero for an 18-0 lead. With two outs, Braiden Ward was hit by a pitch for a 19-0 lead. A flyout by Jason Delay ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley was blown out 19-0 for their fourth straight loss. The IronPigs finished the afternoon with three hits, went 0 for 1 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller (0-3), and the win went to Worcester starter Gage Ziehl (1-0).
The IronPigs conclude the six-game series against the Red Sox on Sunday at 1:05 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 Blake Wehunt (6-5, 3.58 ERA) of Worcester.
