8.27 vs. SWB

**Roman Anthony ripped a 100 MPH single & scored in the 1<sup>st</sup> inning and drilled a 105 MPH RBI double in the 6<sup>th</sup> inning to help the Worcester Red Sox, playing as Los Wepas de Worcester, beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 7-1 on Thursday night at Polar Park.**Ashley Green

Worcester, MA – The Worcester Red Sox used a 3-run, 1^st inning keyed by the top half of the order and a 4-run, 6^th inning led largely by the bottom half of the order to roll past the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 7-1 on Thursday evening at Polar Park. The WooSox (29-24, 65-59) have won 2 of the first 3 games of the 6-game series vs. SWB (29-22, 66-59), the Yankees Triple-A affiliate.

For the third straight night, the first three batters in the WooSox lineup were all rehabbing Red Sox players. For the first time, Roman Anthony led-off for the WooSox and went 2-for-4 as the leftfielder with a single, double, RBI, and run scored. Isiah Kiner-Falefa batted second and played third base going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base while Trevor Story hit third as the DH finishing 1-for-3 with an RBI sac fly.

The trio of rehabbers combined to get the WooSox off and running with a 3-run, 1^st-inning. Anthony lined a 100 MPH single to left to begin Sox first, Kiner-Falefa followed by bouncing a single to left on the 7^th pitch of his at-bat, and Story delivered Anthony with a sac fly to rightfield. Nate Eaton was next and he drove in IKF from first base with a sharp RBI double down the leftfield line. Eaton would cruise home with the third run of the inning when Kristian Campbell cracked an RBI double of his own.

The RailRiders got their lone run of the game in the top of the 2^nd inning on an RBI double by Max Schuemann. That’s all they could manage off WooSox starter and winner Blake Wehunt (2-1), who continued his consistent work in lowering his ERA to 3.34 in seven starts since his promotion from Portland a little more than a month ago. The 6’7” righty equaled his longest outing in a WooSox uniform going 5-innings giving up 4 hits and 1 run with 4 strikeouts.

Osvaldo Berrios was first out of the bullpen and tossed 2 hitless and scoreless innings, striking out Scranton/WB 2B Anthony Volpe to end the 7^th inning with the bases loaded. Seth Martinez struckout the side in the 8^th to strand two runners and had a 1-2-3, 9^th inning with two more strikeouts to close out a 7-1 WooSox victory one night following a 7-1 RailRiders win.

Worcester broke things open by scoring 4 runs with two outs in the 6^th inning. With two down, Brett Harris walked and Vinny Capra (2 hits) singled to set the stage for three consecutive Sox run-producing hits. Catcher Nate Hickey found room in left for an RBI single, SS Tsung-Che Cheng drove a 2-run double over leftfielder Marco Luciano’s head, and Anthony ripped a 105 MPH line double off the Worcester Wall in right in his final at-bat to cap the game-breaking 4-run uprising.

Game four of the 6-game series will be Friday at 6:05 pm at Polar Park. RHP John Holobetz (1-3, 5.95) gets the nod for the WooSox opposite RailRiders righthander Alexander Cornielle (3-3, 3.33). The game is live on NESN and can be heard on NASH 98.9 FM and the rest of the WooSox Radio Network.

After tomorrow’s game, Zac Barnett, lead singer for the band American Authors (“Best Day of My Life”), will perform a short post-game set on the field prior to the penultimate UniBank Fireworks show of the season that will be set to Emo/Pop Punk music. It will also be African Heritage Night at Polar Park on Friday.