SYRACUSE, NY – Allan Castro and Mikey Romero each hit a pair of homers and the Worcester Red Sox (38-40/2-5) collected a season-high 16 hits, cruising to a 15-5 win over the Syracuse Mets (42-40/4-3) in the series opener on Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. The WooSox have now won back-to-back games after dropping their first five of the 2nd half of International League play.
The WooSox offense wasted no time getting to work, striking for four runs in the top of the 1st inning. After an infield single by Vinny Capra, Romero smashed his first home run of the day with a two-run shot to right field to give Worcester a 2-0 lead. Andrew Kinzner followed with a walk, and Castro doubled the WooSox lead with a two-run homer of his own to right field to make it 4-0.
Castro was at it again in the top of the 2nd, lining a single to right field with the bases loaded and two outs to drive in two more and increase the Worcester advantage to 6-0.
Syracuse got back into the game with two runs in the bottom of the 2nd and a single run in the 4th against WooSox starter Raymond Burgos to cut the lead to 6-3, but the WooSox blew the game open with seven runs in the top of the 5th. Castro singled with one out and moved up to second base when Matt Thaiss walked. Kristian Campbell then singled to left field to load the bases, chasing bulk reliever Jack Weisenberger, and Nathan Hickey greeted new Syracuse pitcher Adbert Alzolay with a ground-rule double down the right field line to drive in two runs to give the WooSox an 8-3 lead. Max Ferguson drove in another run with a double, and Braiden Ward followed with a two-run single to make it 11-3. Two batters later Romero hit his second longball of the night, another two-run homer to right field, giving Worcester a 13-3 lead.
Leading off the top of the 6th, Castro launched his second bomb of the day with a solo shot to the opposite field over the wall in left to make it 14-3 WooSox.
The WooSox added to their total with one run in the top of the 8th on an RBI single by Capra to make it a 15-3 lead for Worcester.
MJ Melendez hit a two-run shot off Wyatt Olds in the bottom of the 9th inning to cut the WooSox lead to 15-5, but Olds retired three of the next four hitters to end the ballgame.
Osvaldo Berrios (2-1) collected the win for the WooSox firing 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Burgos, while Syracuse opener Daniel Duarte (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on three hits while recording just two outs in the first inning.
The WooSox will open the month of July looking for their third straight win in game two of the series on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm. The WooSox will send right-hander Brayan Bello (0-0, 3.95) to the mound to make his fourth start at Triple-A in 2026, while left-hander Zach Thornton (1-3, 4.80) makes the start for Syracuse. Pregame coverage begins at 6:15 pm on the WooSox Radio Network.