The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (65-74, 30-34) took on the Worcester Red Sox (71-63, 35-28) in game two on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jedixson Paez of Worcester.
In the bottom of the first inning, Christian Cairo and Otto Kemp had back-to-back hits with Cairo running to third base with nobody out. Kameron Misner struck out, and Keaton Anthony grounded into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.
At the top of the second inning, Tyler McDonough put the Red Sox up 1-0 with an RBI single to center field, scoring Mikey Romero. Worcester had runners on first and second base with one out when Nathan Hickey hit a two-run RBI triple over the head of left fielder Colby Thomas. Thomas chased the ball, while Vinny Capra and Tyler McDonough scored for a 3-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley’s defense continued to make mistakes when Paul McIntosh made a throwing error trying to get Braiden Ward out at second base, scoring Nathan Hickey for a 4-0 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Anthony Seigler to second baseman Christian Cairo ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit a single, Carter Kieboom worked a four-pitch walk, and Colby Thomas hit a single to left field with one out, loading the bases. Paul McIntosh struck out, and Christian Cairo grounded into a forceout at second base for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the third inning, Brian Keller gave up three straight singles that loaded the bases. Tyler McDonough flied out to left fielder Colby Thomas for the first out. Nathan Hickey lined out to Christian Cairo for the second out, but Nate Baez hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Mikey Romero and Allan Castro for a 6-0 lead. A groundout by Braiden Ward to second baseman Christian Cairo ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Franklin Arias hit a double, followed by moving to third base on a flyout by Anthony Seigler. With two outs, Allan Castro hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Arias for a 7-0 lead. Brian Keller struck out Vinny Capra to end the inning. Brian Keller went four innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 83 pitches, of which 50 were strikes.
Ryan Cusick pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fifth inning. Cusick went two innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 33 pitches, of which 23 were strikes. Lou Trivino pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. He struck out one, throwing seven pitches, of which five were strikes.
Tristan Garnett pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He allowed a hit, a walk, and one strikeout, throwing 19 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Kameron Misner hit a double with two outs. Keaton Anthony ended the shutout with an RBI single to left field. It was now 7-1.
Gabriel Rincones Jr. followed by hitting John Brebbia’s slider for an opposite-field two-run home run at 432 feet to center field, cutting Worcester’s lead to 7-3. It was Rincones Jr.’s third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 108.5 mph. Carter Kieboom struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Mitch Neunborn pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Worcester third baseman Vinny Capra hit Neunborn’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 367 feet to left field for an 8-3 lead. It was his 10th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 98.5 mph. Neunborn struck out Tyler McDonough, Nathan Hickey, and Nate Baez to end the inning. He allowed a hit, a run, and three strikeouts, throwing 17 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Paul McIntosh and Christian Cairo walked with two outs before Otto Kemp popped out to shortstop Franklin Arias for the final out of the game.
The IronPigs lost to the Red Sox 8-3. Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits, committed one error, went two for nine with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Gabriel Rincones Jr. went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller (1-6), while the win went to Worcester pitcher Noah Song.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Alan Rangel (3-7, 5.23 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Blake Wehunt (7-5, 3.32 ERA) for Worcester.
