WooSox Shut Out Lehigh Valley Ironpigs 5-0

By Stephen Ur

The Worcester Red Sox hosted the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs in the second game of the six-game series at Polar Park in Worcester, MA on Wednesday night. Worcester won the opening game of the series 7-5 on Tuesday.

It was a 1-2-3 inning for RHP Kyle Barraclough, who forced groundouts on three of the first four batters in the top of the first inning.

Nick Sogard would score the first run of the game on the bottom of the first after Hernandez hit a line drive to left field past the third basemen.

Sogard would run in a score himself in the bottom of the second as he hit a pop-up into right field, allowing Narciso Crook to score. The WooSox took a 2-0 lead with two out in the inning.

Sogard continued his impressive outing with another RBI on a sac fly, allowing Daniel Palka to score. The score was now 3-0 with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.

While Sogard did have an impressive outing, there was also a scare in the middle of the game as he collided with the Ironpigs’ second baseman. It appeared he had suffered some sort of head injury, but manager Chad Tracy later talked about how Sogard felt after the hit.

“He was [really more] complaining about his back and chest than he was his head,” Tracy said after the game. He added that when he went back into the clubhouse, his symptoms subsided. He was replaced at first base by catcher Caleb Hamilton.

The WooSox would add on two more, one in the fifth and one in the sixth, and the pitching led the way to a shutout victory.

“The reason we’re winning is because we’re pitching. No doubt about it,” Tracy said on the team’s five-game win streak. They will look to make it six in a row in the middle game of the series against the Ironpigs tomorrow night at Polar Park in Worcester, MA. First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. ET.