The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-17) continued their six-game series against the Worcester Red Sox (15-16) on Saturday afternoon from Polar Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher David Buchanan (2-1, 3.56 ERA) was on the mound against Worcester’s Justin Hagenman (1-1, 5.40 ERA).
In the bottom of the second inning, Worcester had runners on first and second base when third baseman Jamie Westbrook hit Buchanan’s sinker for an RBI single to right field scoring Bobby Dalbec for a 1-0 lead.
The Red Sox busted the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning. With runners on first and second base, Worcester shortstop Nick Sogard hit an RBI single to center field scoring Corey Rosier for a 2-0 lead. Two batters later with two outs, designated hitter Enmanuel Valdez hit Buchanan’s cutter for a two-run single to center field scoring Nick Sogard and Romy Gonzalez for a 4-0 lead.
David Buchanan pitched 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs, two walks, and five strikeouts throwing 90 pitches, of which 59 were strikes. Beau Burrows replaced Buchanan and struck out Bobby Dalbec for the final out of the inning. Beau Burrows pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts throwing 33 pitches, of which 18 were strikes.
Nick Nelson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 18 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, and Andrew Bellatti (1.0 IP) threw 15 pitches, of which nine were strikes also pitched for Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs had five hits and were shut out by the Red Sox 4-0. They lose the series 1-4 with one game left to play.
The win went to Worcester pitcher Robert Kwiatkowski (3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K) throwing 41 pitches, of which 28 were strikes, and the loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher David Buchanan. It’s Buchanan’s second loss of the season.
The IronPigs and Red Sox conclude the six-game series on Sunday at 1:05 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics and Rally House.
