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IL Worcester Red Sox

Priester, 'Pen Lead WooSox to 3-0 Shutout of IronPigs

August 16, 2024 - International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


WORCESTER, MA -- Behind Quinn Priester's dominant start, the Worcester Red Sox (21-21)/(56-61) shutout the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (22-19)/(56-58) on Friday night, notching a 3-0 win in the fourth game of their six-game set at Polar Park.

Friday night's matchup featured two starting pitchers acquired ahead of MLB's July 30 Trade Deadline: Quinn Priester for the WooSox and Seth Johnson for the IronPigs. Priester was making his third start with Worcester and looked to build on his last outing where he walked one and punched out four. Meanwhile, Johnson was making his Triple-A debut and hoped to make a nice first impression.

Both pitchers achieved their goals on Friday night.

A former first round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Priester was terrific in five shutout innings, ending his night with a final line of 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. Mixing in a hard sinker and tight slider, the 23-year-old needed just 42 pitches (29 strikes) to get through five innings on Friday.

"The biggest focus for Quinn right now is getting some velo back," said WooSox manager Chad Tracy before the game. "Velocity is what it is. It makes it harder to hit...That same guy with that same stuff at 96 [mph] has a chance to be pretty good."

Johnson was equally impressive, matching the WooSox righty's five shutout innings and holding Worcester to just one hit. While the Concord, North Carolina native's command was not as sharp as Priester's, Johnson managed to keep the WooSox' offense from getting anything going.

In the bottom of the sixth, Worcester finally started making noise. Chase Meidroth drew a free pass to lead off the inning and was followed by two more walks to Enmanuel Valdez and Eddy Alvarez. With the bases loaded and one out, Bobby Dalbec broke the scoreless tie by ripping a two-run double to left just past the dive of Buddy Kennedy at third base. For good measure, Jamie Westbrook added an RBI groundout to give Worcester a 3-0 lead heading into the seventh inning.

Though the WooSox' bats were quiet for the rest of the game, the team tallied eight walks by night's end--giving them 602 as a team. Entering Friday, Worcester led all Triple-A in the category with the nearest International League team at 559.

Zach Penrod, Luis Guerrero, and Yohan Ramirez continued Priester's excellence with four one-hit frames to end the game. The trio combined for six strikeouts and retired nine straight batters while allowing just two baserunners.

In their 3-0 shutout of the IronPigs on Friday, Penrod (W, 2-1) was awarded the victory while Andrew Bellati (L, 3-2) was handed the defeat. Ramirez (S, 3) notched his third save and picked up two strikeouts to secure the win.

The WooSox and IronPigs will meet for game five of their six-game series at 4:05 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Polar Park. Brad Keller (1-1, 4.09) is scheduled to start for Worcester opposite Robinson Pina for Lehigh Valley, who will be making his first start with the team. The game will be broadcasted live on NESN+ and radio coverage begins at 3:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.

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