Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Lehigh Valley’s offense went quiet for most of Wednesday night, and Worcester made it count early, beating the IronPigs 8-3 at Coca-Cola Park. The Red Sox put up four runs in the second inning and two more in the third, and Lehigh Valley never got closer than five the rest of the way.

Starter Brian Keller couldn’t find a rhythm. He lasted four innings and allowed 10 hits and seven runs, six of them earned, taking the loss to fall to 1-6 with his ERA climbing to 6.60. The bullpen steadied things afterward. Ryan Cusick struck out three over two scoreless innings, and Lou Trivino added a clean frame behind him. Tristan Garnett worked around a wild pitch to escape the eighth unscathed. Only Mitch Neunborn ran into trouble, giving up a solo homer in the ninth with the game already well out of reach.

The lone bright spot came in the eighth. Gabriel Rincones Jr., who finished 2-for-4, drove a two-run homer to center — his third of the season — to score Keaton Anthony and account for two of Lehigh Valley’s three runs. Anthony had driven in a run of his own earlier in the frame, pushing his season RBI total to 41. Kameron Misner doubled, his 17th of the year, and Carter Kieboom swiped his first base of the season.

It added up to too little, too late. Lehigh Valley managed just eight hits and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight base runners over nine innings. The loss dropped the IronPigs to 65-74, while Worcester improved to 71-63.

Reading Fightin Phils

Reading turned a tight game into a laugher on Wednesday night, pounding out four home runs in an 11-3 win over Erie at FirstEnergy Stadium. Erie grabbed a brief 2-0 lead in the second, but the Fightin Phils answered with a run in the third and never trailed again. The win coupled with a loss by Somerset leaves both Binghamton and Somerset 3.5 games behind and puts the Fightins magic number at one.

Gage Wood set the tone on the mound, working five innings and allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out five to improve to 1-3. The bullpen followed with three scoreless innings from Mavis Graves, Wen-Hui Pan and Aaron Combs sandwiched around it; only Jack Dallas gave up anything, a meaningless homer in the eighth with the outcome long settled.

The offense did the real damage. Aroon Escobar opened the power display with a solo shot in the fourth, his 10th of the year, and Bryson Ware followed two batters later with a solo homer of his own, his 15th. Reading blew the game open in the sixth: Raylin Heredia crushed a three-run homer, his 23rd, and Carson DeMartini added a solo shot two batters later for his eighth. Ware finished the night 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and Escobar went 2-for-5 with a double to go with his homer.

Caleb Ricketts also drove in a run on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, and Bryan Rincon reached base three times. In all, Reading collected 12 hits and drew nine walks while improving to 67-66 with just four regular season games remaining.

Clearwater Threshers

Clearwater had a scheduled off day between playoff games. The Threshers opened the Florida State League West Division Series in Tampa (New York Yankees) on Tuesday and dropped Game One, 2-0, despite a strong relief effort from Brad Pacheco, who struck out five over 5 2/3 innings. Clearwater managed only three hits in the loss.

Game Two is scheduled for tonight at BayCare Ballpark, with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. If a Game Three is necessary, it will be played Friday, September 11, also at home.

The winner of the division series will face the winner of the division series between the Daytona Beach Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds) and the Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins). Jupiter holds a 1-0 lead in that series after their Tuesday night win.

Home Runs — September 9, 2026
Lehigh Valley – Gabriel Rincones Jr. (3)
Reading – Aroon Escobar (10)
Reading – Bryson Ware (15)
Reading – Raylin Heredia (23)
Reading – Carson DeMartini (8)