Worcester, MA – A late Worcester Red Sox rally fell just short as Kristian Cambell’s 105 MPH line drive to left field was caught by a sprawling Rochester leftfielder Christian Franklin to end the 8th inning and prevent the tying and go-ahead runs from scoring as the Red Wings held on for a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Polar Park. The WooSox also left two runners on base in the 9th inning and had 11 LOB on the night. With the defeat, the WooSox (23-21) fell 2-games behind 1st place Rochester (26-20) in the International League East division.
After a 1 hour & 1 minute rain delay before the start of the game, the WooSox wasted no time getting on the board as CF Nate Eaton led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a double to the right centerfield wall and came home on a 2-out RBI single to left by DH Anthony Seigler.
Worcester lefty Raymond Burgos made his second start since signing with the club out of the Mexican League on May 7. The 6’5”, 27-year-old from Puerto Rico set down the first seven Red Wings batters before Rochester 3B Trey Lipscomb hit a controversial solo home run with one out in the 3rd to tie the game at 1-1. The ball appeared to hit the top of the Rob Levine Law billboard in left centerfield and stay in play, however, it was ruled a homer (#8 for Lipscomb) after the umpires convened. Burgos would go on to strike out the side to finish the 3rd inning.
The WooSox answered back in the bottom half of the 3rd thanks to a lead-off double by SS Tsung-Che Cheng and an RBI double down the left field line by 2B Mikey Romero to regain the lead, 2-1.
Burgos would run into some tough luck in the 4th inning when the Red Wings had 4 hits including 2 infield singles to score twice and go ahead 3-2. Top prospect SS Seaver King had a 2-out RBI single in his first game with the Red Wings and Lipscomb walked with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run. Burgos did strike out Phillip Glasser to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.
The see-saw affair continued in the bottom of the 4th and then again in the top of the 5th. Worcester tied the score, 3-3 in the 4th on a Cheng RBI fielder’s choice scoring Allan Castro (walk). But the tie was short-lived as the Red Wings sent 8 batters to the plate for the second straight frame in the 5th inning to knock Burgos from the box. Yohandy Morales (RBI double) and Robert Hassell III (RBI single) had the key hits as the Wings jumped ahead, 6-3.
That closed the book on Burgos (0-2) as the Sox southpaw suffered the loss giving up 6 runs on 7 hits in 4+ innings with 6 strikeouts. Noah Song did a nice job in relief going 2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts.
Rehabbing Red Sox lefty Danny Coulombe, on the Sox injured list since May 2 with cervical spasms, came on to start the 7th inning and gave up a solo HR to Morales (who had a single, double, homer and scored 3 runs) before getting a strikeout and a ground out to end his 18-pitch appearance (.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 SO). Seth Martinez finished strong for the WooSox tossing 2.1 scoreless innings.
Worcester wouldn’t go away scoring 3 runs in the 7th inning to slice the deficit to 7-6. Seigler’s sharp 2-run single and a sac fly by Vinny Capra made it a 1-run game. In the 8th, Cheng walked and Eaton ripped his third hit of the night bringing up Campbell with two outs. The WooSox right fielder scorched the first offering he saw on a line to left and when Red Wings left fielder Christian Franklin slipped it appeared the Sox would score two to take the lead. However, Franklin reached out while on his stomach to snare the liner for the third out of the inning.
The valiant WooSox made one last push in the 9th as Capra and Castro singled with one out, but two groundouts ended the final threat of the night. Rochester starter Andry Lara (2-2) was the winner – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R while the Sox made closer Erik Tolman work for his 3rd save.
The teams will play game two of their 6-game set on Wednesday night at 6:05 pm at Polar Park. The WooSox will send ace Jake Bennett (2-2, 1.85) to the mound against Rochester righty Chandler Champlain (4-0, 3.00). The Red Wings have won 9 of their last 10 games. The game will be on NESN+ and on NASH 98.9 FM and The Pike 100.1 FM.