Worcester Wins 4th Straight and Takes 5 of 6 from Buffalo

CF Braiden Ward rips two doubles and continues his outstanding outfield defense WooSox go on 13-game roadtrip next and return to Polar Park on June 23

June 8th, 2026
WooSox CF Braiden Ward, who leads the league with 27 stolen bases, doubled twice, had an RBI & a run scored, and was stellar in the outfield to lead Worcester to a 5-3 win over Buffalo on Sunday at Polar Park.
WooSox CF Braiden Ward, who leads the league with 27 stolen bases, doubled twice, had an RBI & a run scored, and was stellar in the outfield to lead Worcester to a 5-3 win over Buffalo on Sunday at Polar Park.Ashley Green

Worcester, MA – The Worcester Red Sox won their fourth straight and made it five wins in six tries against the Buffalo Bisons this week/weekend taking the finale of their 6-game series on Sunday afternoon, 5-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 7,629 fans at Polar Park.  The WooSox (32-28) have also won 9 of their last 12 games and will now head out on a season-long 13-game roadtrip to Rochester (7 games) and Lehigh Valley (6 games) to close out the 1st half of the International League schedule.  Worcester will return to Polar Park in just over two weeks to begin the 2nd half (final 75 games) by hosting the Toledo Mud Hens for a 6-game series from June 23-28.   

For the fourth time in as many games vs. Buffalo, the WooSox scored first on Sunday and they continued a trend of scoring early.  Just 7 pitches into the game, Worcester had a 1-0 lead as the first three batters in the order had base hits.  Lead-off man CF Braiden Ward roped a ground rule double to right center, SS Vinny Capra followed with an infield single, and RF Nate Eaton knocked in the game’s first run with a line drive single.  A walk to Matt Thaiss loaded the bases and, after two outs, 1B Matt Lloyd came through with a clutch 2-run single to up the Sox lead to 3-0. 

Buffalo got 2 runs back in the top of the 2nd inning on a Willie MacIver solo HR and an RBI single by Carlos Mendoza.  However, centerfielder Ward throw out the potential tying run at home to end the inning and keep the WooSox ahead, 3-2. 

Those 2 runs were the only that WooSox starter and winner Michael Sansone (2-3) would allow in his 5-inning outing.  Sansone, who earned his fourth promotion of the season from Double-A Portland on Sunday to make his 6th start for Worcester, gave up 4 hits and 2 runs with 1 BB & 5 SO. 

The Sox added single runs in the 2nd inning when Capra lifted a sac fly to score Tyler McDonough (single) and Ward smacked an RBI double off the Worcester Wall in right to score Tsung-Che Cheng (single) to extend the Worcester lead to 5-2.  The rest was up to the WooSox bullpen.

Osvaldo Berrios relieved Sansone and tossed a scoreless 6th, Seth Martinez was touched for a solo HR by Buffalo SS Josh Rivera in the 7th, and Kyle Keller set down the side in the 8th.  Wyatt Olds came on for the 9th and struck out the final two Bisons on 99 & 98 MPH fastballs to earn his first save of the season.

The WooSox will travel to Rochester, NY during their off-day on Monday afternoon in advance of playing a 7-game series against the 1st-place Rochester Red Wings (AAA-Washington) this Tuesday night through next Sunday afternoon.  The series includes a make-up doubleheader on Thursday at 1:05 pm (from a rainout on May 24 at Polar Park).  Worcester will be the “home” team in Game 2 that day.  The WooSox trail the front-running Red Wings by 4½-games with 13 games remaining before the end of the 1st half on June 21.    

Tuesday’s series opener at 6:45 pm from ESL Ballpark in Rochester will be broadcast on NASH 98.9 FM and The Pike 100.1 FM.