WooSox Hang Ten As Bats Pace Worcester Over Lehigh Valley

ALLENTOWN, P.A. — The Worcester Red Sox (34-22) used a four-run first inning to take game three of the series over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (24-33) on Friday night at Coca Cola Park by a 10-3 final.

Worcester took the lead almost immediately and did not relinquish it. They jumped on Lehigh Valley starter Chase Anderson, scoring four runs on five hits, and they sent eight batters to the plate in the opening frame. Anderson, pitching on a major-league rehab assignment, tossed three innings in his third rehab appearance.

Marcus Wilson, leading off for the first time this season, was hit by a pitch to begin the game. Yairo Munoz would follow with a single and a stolen base, setting up a two-run single by Franchy Cordero, logging RBIs 26 and 27 and putting the WooSox up 2-0.

Jeter Downs singled to left, and Connor Wong, who was optioned back after a short stint with Boston, doubled to continue the inning. Soon-to-be Olympian Jack Lopez would double Worcester’s lead in the ensuing at-bat with a two-out, two-run base knock, giving starter Daniel Gossett a 4-0 lead before he took the mound.

Lopez’s impressive inning continued with a stellar running catch that sent him somersaulting over the tarp along the first-base side. Gossett, meanwhile, tossed five strong innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five, with the lone blemish coming on a solo home run he surrendered to Nick Maton in the bottom of the first inning.

Worcester added a run in the fourth, with a Tate Matheny base hit setting up a Wilson RBI double. The WooSox added insurance runs in the seventh with an RBI double from Chris Herrmann and a two-run home run from Johan Mieses to extend the WooSox lead to 8-1.

The eighth inning brought more of the same, with a pair of solo homers from Josh Ockimey and Wilson. The solo shot capped a perfect night at the plate for Wilson, who went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs batted in.

Kyle Hart, Brandon Brennan, and Phillips Valdez comprised the relief effort before letting Kaleb Ort close it out in the ninth. The bullpen held Lehigh Valley to a combined two runs on five hits.

The WooSox continue the five-game series versus the IronPigs Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Radio coverage starts live at 6:15 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network. Worcester’s Tanner Houck (0-1, 4.08 ERA) is the scheduled to oppose Lehigh Valley’s Spencer Howard (1-0, 0.64 ERA).