By Tiffany Williams –
Easter Sunday was a great day to be a sports fan in New England with the Boston Red Sox, Worcester Red Sox, Boston Celtics and then the Yard Goats and Fisher Cats playing a doubleheader in Manchester, New Hampshire.
In Worcester mother nature didn’t know what she wanted but the Worcester Red Sox and Iron Pigs knew what they wanted however at the end of the day only one team in this contest could take the W and that was the Iron Pigs. With one run at the top of the first and two runs at the top of the second the Iron Pigs had a 3-0 lead going into the third. Third inning went scoreless and then at the bottom of the fourth Jeter Downs got the Worcester Red Sox into this game with a run to make it a 3-1 Iron Pigs lead. Christin Stewart kept things rolling in the bottom of the fourth with a grand slam driving in Triston Casas, Rob Refsnyder and Franchy Cordero to give the Worcester Red Sox a 3-5 lead. With bases loaded at the bottom of the 5th, Franchy Cordero hit his 6th double for the season to drive in Jarren Duran, Triston Casas and Rob Refsnyder to make it a 3-8 WooSox lead. At the top of the 6th the Iron Pigs picked up nine runs to make it a 12-8 Iron Pigs lead. At the top of the 7th the Iron Pigs picked up two more runs to make it a 14-8 Pigs lead. In the top of the 8th the Iron Pigs again picked up two runs to make it a 16-8 Pigs lead. In the top of the 9th, the Iron Pigs picked up three runs to make it a 19-8 Pigs lead. Worcester Red Sox VP of Communications, Bill Wanless during the game sent out a note saying “The last time the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate allowed 9 runs in an inning before today’s 6th-inning came on May 5, 2007 when the Pawtucket Red Sox gave up 9 runs in the bottom of the 9th-inning at Buffalo to lose the game, 15-14. The PawSox led 14-6 heading into the bottom of the 9th.” Wanless also said “After the game, which was played on Cinco de Mayo, PawSox manager Ron Johnson dubbed the game Stinko de Mayo.”
At TD Garden, the Celtics and Brooklyn Nets played an intense first round playoff contest but a two point layup by Jayson Tatum assisted by Marcus Smart, secured a down to the wire 114-115 win. Tatum had 31 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists while Brown had 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Smart and Horford both had 20 points while Williams and White both had 7 points, Theis had 4 points and Pritchard had 3 points. The battle between Boston and Brooklyn continues Wednesday night at TD Garden for game two. In the bottom of the 9th the WooSox picked up three runs with Ryan Fitzgerald, Jarren Duran and Jeter Downs to make this a 19-11 win for the Iron Pigs.
At Fenway the Red Sox and Twins went scoreless five innings and then the Red Sox took the lead in this game with two runs (Devers and Bogaerts) in the bottom of the 6th. The Twins had a solo run in the top of the 7th. In the bottom 8th the Red Sox unleashed an inner beast yet to be seen this season with 5 runs (Hernandez, Devers, Bogaerts, Story and Dalbec). The Red Sox claimed a 1-8 Easter Sunday win and have now won five of their first nine games to start the season.
Up North Sunday in Manchester, New Hampshire it was a double-header for the Hartford Yard Goats and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Game one was scoreless in the first and second but in the bottom of the third Zac Cook hit his third homer of the season and John Aiello scored to make it a 0-2 Fisher Cats lead. After a scoreless fourth inning, John Aiello hit his first homer of the season in the bottom of the 5th and that was it for the game. The Fisher Cats won game one 0-3. In game two the Yard Goats managed to muster up the strength to bounceback into the win column with three homers (Willie Maclver, Jimmy Herron and Kyle Datres) and a run (Jameson Hannah). The Fisher Cats solo run of the game came in the bottom of the 5th. The Goats beat the Cats 4-1.
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