The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (67-75, 32-35) took on the Worcester Red Sox (72-65, 36-30) in game five on Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park. Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Michael Sansone for Worcester.
At the top of the first inning with two outs, Worcester designated hitter Allan Castro hit Fellows’s sinker to put the Red Sox up 1-0 on a solo home run at 441 feet to center field. It was his 10th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.6 mph. Fellows struck out Mikey Romero to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Kameron Misner worked a four-pitch walk with two outs. Carter Kieboom tied the game 1-1 with an RBI double to center field, scoring Misner. Dylan Moore struck out swinging for the third out.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Payton Henry put the IronPigs up 2-1 by hitting Sansone’s four-seam fastball at 390 feet to left field. It was his eighth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.4 mph.
Catcher Paul McIntosh worked a four-pitch walk before Gabriel Rincones Jr. made it 4-1 by hitting Sansone’s four-seam fastball at 396 feet to right-center field. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.7 mph. A flyout by Otto Kemp ended the inning.
Worcester came back at the top of the fourth inning. They had a runner on first base with one out when Tsung-Che Cheng hit an RBI triple to center field, scoring Max Ferguson. It was now 4-2. Tomás Nido grounded out to shortstop Dylan Moore, scoring Cheng, and it was now 4-3. Braiden Ward tied the game 4-4 by hitting Fellows’s sinker for a solo home run at 371 feet to right-center field. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 98.4 mph. A flyout by Vinny Capra ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with two outs when Otto Kemp hit a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring Payton Henry and Paul McIntosh for a 6-4 lead. A groundout by Kameron Misner ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with one out, Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh made it 7-4 by hitting John Brebbia’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 379 feet to left-center field. It was his ninth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 106.7 mph. With two outs, Kameron Misner struck out swinging for the third out.
Drake Fellows went six innings, allowing six hits, four runs, two walks, and six strikeouts, throwing 93 pitches, of which 65 were strikes. Nestor Cortes pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Worcester had a runner on third base with one out when Allan Castro to third baseman Otto Kemp, scoring Braiden Ward. It was now 7-5. Cortes struck out Mikey Romero to end the inning. He allowed a hit, a run, and one strikeout, throwing 13 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
Kyle Backhus pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He struck out two, throwing 11 pitches, of which nine were strikes, to get three outs. Lou Trivino III pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He put runners on first and second base with two outs before striking out Allan Castro to end the game. Trivino III allowed a hit, a walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
The IronPigs beat the Red Sox 7-5 for their second straight win. Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits, committed one error, went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Gabriel Rincones Jr. went 2 for 4 with a home run, a walk, a double, and two RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows (6-4), while Lou Trivino III earned his eighth save of the season, and the loss went to Worcester starter Michael Sansone (2-6).
The IronPigs and Red Sox conclude the six-game series on Sunday at 1:15 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Casey Lawrence (1-1, 7.48 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Gage Ziehl (8-6, 4.32 ERA) for Worcester.
