Error opens door for WooSox, who snap RailRiders' roll
Jul. 5—Worcester had a pair of runners on base with no outs, so it was already set up for a big inning.
When Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shortstop Oswald
Peraza gloved a slow grounder and flipped it over second baseman Derek Dietrich's head, it exacerbated the RailRiders' troubles.
Worcester scored five runs in the eighth inning, with Ronaldo Hernandez providing some fireworks before the fireworks by blasting a go-ahead, three-run homer as the Red Sox rallied to beat the RailRiders, 6-4, on Monday at Polar Park. It snapped Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's seven-game winning streak.
RailRiders reliever Michael Gomez was already in trouble after No. 9 hitter Yolmer Sánchez started the inning with a single, then leadoff hitter Devlin Granberg followed with a five-pitch walk.
Connor Wong then tapped a roller to the left of second base. Peraza charged and tried to start a double play. In one motion, he gloved it and flipped it toward Dietrich at the bag, but the toss was too high and landed in right field. Sánchez scored to get Worcester within 4-2.
Ryan Fitzgerald followed with a sacrifice fly to get the Red Sox even closer and Jaylin Davis singled to put the winning run on base and chase Gomez from the game.
José Mujica inherited the jam and Christin Stewart lined his second pitch into right for a single. Wong tried to score from second to tie the game, but right fielder Phillip Evans threw him out at the plate to momentarily preserve the lead.
Two pitches later, the RailRiders were down two runs. Hernandez drilled a ball over the left-center field wall for a three-run shot and a 6-4 lead.
Against Worcester closer Kaleb Ort in the ninth, Armando Alvarez worked a leadoff walk, but Rob Brantly banged into a double play to thwart any chance of a comeback.
Though Worcester spoiled the ending, things started well for the RailRiders.
Estevan Florial continued his hot streak, blasting the second pitch of the game over the high wall in right field for a home run, his 10th of the season. They scored three more times in the sixth, with Evans doubling home a run and Dietrich's single against the shift plating two more for a 4-0 lead.
On the mound, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Ken Waldichuk carved through the Worcester lineup. After Granberg's leadoff double, the 24-year-old southpaw retired 13 of the next 14. The one who reached, Stewart on a walk to start the second, was erased on a smooth double play started by Peraza.
Waldichuk struck out six and walked none in five-plus innings. He allowed four hits, with two coming from the final two hitters he faced. Sánchez singled to start the sixth and Granberg doubled him home before the RailRiders turned things over to the bullpen.
Zach Greene walked the first batter he faced, then retired the next six, striking out three before giving way to Gomez in the eighth.
Worcester threw seven pitchers at the RailRiders. Geoff Hartlieb started and struck out five in a row after allowing Florial's homer. Lefty Darwinzon Hernandez pitched his first game since May 13 and struck out the side in the fifth. Zack Kelly earned the win after coming through with two big strikeouts to strand runners at the corners in the eighth.
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