IronPigs Outpace WooSox 12-1 Wednesday Night
ALLENTOWN, PA – The Worcester Red Sox (38-32, 77-68) cracked four doubles, but could not keep pace with the surging Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (43-28, 79-65) in a 12-1 loss on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park. Niko Kavadas led Worcester’s offense, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI two-bagger in the eighth
ALLENTOWN, PA – The Worcester Red Sox (38-32, 77-68) cracked four doubles, but could not keep pace with the surging Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (43-28, 79-65) in a 12-1 loss on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park.
Niko Kavadas led Worcester’s offense, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI two-bagger in the eighth inning. In his last ten games, the Notre Dame product is 10-for-34 (.294) with two doubles, four homers, 11 RBI, and a 1.091 OPS.
The game was scoreless entering the bottom of the fourth, but Lehigh Valley erupted for a five-run rally and scored multiple runs in four consecutive innings.
A season-high 12 walks from WooSox pitching – including two with the bases loaded – helped the IronPigs’ cause, but Lehigh Valley truly broke the game open with a three-run triple from Matt Kroon in the fourth, a two-run single by Kody Clemens in the fifth, and a two-run home run off the bat of Cal Stevenson in the sixth.
Stevenson reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 1-for-1 with four walks and a homer.
Despite holding Lehigh Valley scoreless through three frames, Brian Van Belle (L, 5-4) walked three batters in the fourth and left after 3.2 innings with four runs allowed on three hits with four strikeouts and five free passes.
Zack Kelly threw 15 pitches (eight strikes) in a rehab appearance, surrendering a Rafael Marchan single and the Stevenson home run before retiring Jim Haley on a groundout and exiting the game.
Bryan Mata recorded two outs in the top of the seventh inning in his second outing since May 9. His fastball sat at 97 miles-per-hour and he froze Krook with a sinker for a called third strike, but was removed from the game after walking his second batter of the frame.
Phillies prospect Orion Kerkering (W, 1-0) earned the win in his Triple-A debut, working around two hits in the fourth inning for a scoreless frame. Michael Plassmeyer (S, 1) recorded the final 15 outs of the game.
While the WooSox have been eliminated from playoff contention, Lehigh Valley kept pace with first-place Durham, and will enter Thursday two games back with four remaining. Thursday’s game is scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m. at Coca-Cola Park.