WooSox Erase Ninth-Inning Deficit, Fall in Extras at Lehigh Valley

ALLENTOWN, P.A. — The Worcester Red Sox (11-8) came back from two runs down in the ninth but lost the series opener in extras against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-7) on Tuesday night, a 6-5 defeat at Coca-Cola Park.

Entering the ninth, the WooSox trailed 4-2 on five total hits. After a strikeout to start the inning, Yairo Muñoz walked and reached second on a Marcus Wilson groundout. That brought up Michael Gettys with two outs in the ninth—Gettys was down to his final strike, but blooped the 2-2 pitch down the left field line for an RBI double that cut the deficit to one. After a Lehigh Valley pitching change, Cesar Puello crushed a double that one-hopped the centerfield wall to tie the game at four and complete the two-run ninth. Prior to the inning, Worcester had scored one ninth inning run over its first 18 games.

The IronPigs failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, and Worcester went up 5-4 in the tenth on a sac-fly from Jonathan Arauz. Lehigh Valley began its half of the inning with an automatic runner on second. After a groundout and a walk, Edgar Cabral singled up the middle to re-tie the game. An intentional walk and groundout loaded the bases with two outs, and the first pitch from Marcus Walden got by catcher Jett Bandy to score Cabral and give the IronPigs a walkoff win, the first extra innings loss of the season for Worcester.

Rally kids. pic.twitter.com/Hdrm27bc8h

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) May 26, 2021

After zero runs over the first three frames, both teams scored in the fourth. Michael Chavis, playing in his first Triple-A game since May 5 after a stint in Boston, led off with a single for the WooSox. Following a strikeout, Yairo Muñoz hit a high fly ball to left center. Lehigh Valley centerfielder Mickey Moniak crashed in to the wall, and by the time the ball was thrown in, Chavis had scored and Muñoz had Worcester’s fifth triple of the season. Marcus Wilson singled in Muñoz one pitch later to put the WooSox up 2-0.

The IronPigs would score in three of their next four offensive innings. After the two-run top of the fourth, Lehigh Valley answered with a Ryan Cordell solo homer to left to make it 2-1. An inning later, Worcester starter Stephen Gonsalves got two quick outs, then walked two straight batters. Moniak, the number one overall pick in 2016, tripled on a hard line drive to right to drive home Travis Jankowsky and Ruben Tejada. The swing gave the 'Pigs their first lead in Gonsalves’ final inning of work, part of a three-run, eight strikeout outing for the left-hander.

Lehigh Valley added one more two frames later against WooSox reliever Caleb Simpson. Jankowsky doubled then scored on a Tejada single up the middle to extend the lead to 4-2. At that stage, the IronPigs had four runs on six total hits, aided by five walks from Worcester pitching. Kaleb Ort provided a strong bridge to a comeback out of the bullpen, putting up his eighth scoreless outing to start the season. The two-run ninth set up the second extra inning game of the season for the WooSox. After Worcester pushed across its automatic runner in the tenth, Lehigh Valley handed the team its first series-opening loss since Opening Day.

The WooSox continue the six-game series in Allentown on Wednesday against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at 7:05 p.m. Radio coverage starts at 6:45 on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network. Lehigh Valley’s Cristopher Sanchez (0-1, 4.97) faces Kyle Hart (1-0, 2.70), who has allowed one total run over his last 13 innings of work.