BUFFALO, NY – Gage Ziehl allowed just one run over 6.2 innings and Mikey Romero recorded four hits as the Worcester Red Sox (67-61/31-26) topped the Buffalo Bisons (64-68/29-28) 9-1 in the series opener on Tuesday night at Sahlen Field. The win for the WooSox was their second in a row, giving them back-to-back victories for the first time since August 12-13, also against Buffalo.
The two teams exchanged single runs in their respective halves of the 1st inning. The WooSox loaded the bases with nobody out against Bisons starter Josh Stephan and took a 1-0 lead when Braiden Ward scored from third base on a double play ball off the bat of Romy Gonzalez. Buffalo responded in the bottom of the 1st against Ziehl when Yohendrick Piñango lined a single to left field with two outs to score Rhylan Thomas from third base to tie the game at 1-1.
The WooSox reclaimed the lead in the top of the 3rd inning. Ward walked with one out and advanced to third on a fielding error by Bisons shortstop Jay Harry on a groundball hit by Franklin Arias. Mikey Romero then doubled to left center field to drive in both Ward and Arias to give the WooSox a 3-1 lead.
In the top of the 7th the WooSox put together a two-out rally to increase their advantage. With two outs and the bases empty, Arias singled to center field and Romero followed with a bloop single to left field to put runners at first and second for Romy Gonzalez who launched a three-run homer to right center to give the WooSox a 6-1 lead.
The WooSox put the game away with three more runs in the top of the 9th inning. Arias worked a walk to start the rally and advanced to second base on Romero’s bloop single to right field. A Gonzalez single to left field loaded the bases for Anthony Seigler who hit a ground-rule double that bounced over the wall in left center field to drive in a pair making it 8-1. Kristian Campbell followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to increase the WooSox advantage to 9-1.
Ziehl (2-3) put it into cruise control following the 1st inning to pick up his second Triple-A win. Over his final 5.2 frames, the upstate New York native allowed just two hits and three baserunners, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. He allowed just one run on four hits over a WooSox season-high 6.2 innings with four strikeouts. Stephan (6-9) suffered the loss for the Bisons allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with four strikeouts over 5.0 innings.
After taking the series opener, the WooSox will try for their third straight win in game two of the series on Wednesday night. Right-hander Blake Wehunt (2-1, 3.34) takes the ball for Worcester making his eighth start at Triple-A, while the Bisons turn to right-hander John Klein (2-4, 5.82) who makes his 15th start this season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 pm at Sahlen Field. Radio pregame coverage begins at 5:45 pm on the WooSox Radio Network.