By Stephen Ur
The Worcester Red Sox returned home for their first of two consecutive series at home, this one against the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scraton/Wills-Barke Railriders. The WooSox were coming off a series on the road against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs in which they lost the final five games after winning the first series.
This was the first game in WooSox history that they were using the ABS, or Automatic Ball-Strike System, which will call whether a pitch is a ball or strike. The message was still relayed to a human home plate umpire via an earpiece. If the technology fails, the umpire can still make the call.
This was the first game in WooSox history that they were using the ABS, or Automatic Ball-Strike System, which will call whether a pitch is a ball or strike. The message was still relayed to a human home plate umpire via an earpiece. If the technology fails, the umpire can still make the call.
“I don’t know what I think about it,” manager Chad Tracy said of ABS debuting Tuesday. “I’ve never seen it in action. We’ll see how it flows.” He added that he’s more excited about the challenge system debuting this weekend.
James Paxton took the mound to start for Worcester, coming in with an 0-2 record thus far in 2023 with an 11.57 ERA. Railriders starting pitcher Ryan Weber came into this game with a 1-2 record and a 6.48 ERA to start the 2023 season.
The first three runs of the game came with no outs in the top of the second as Rodolfo Duran hit a three-run home run into center field, allowing Jamie Westbrook and Jake Bauers to score after Westbrook hit a double to right field and Bauers walked.
Paxton was pulled after 4.1 IP, allowing three hits and five earned runs while striking out five. His ERA drops to 9.46. Taylor Broadway took the mount for Worcester.
In the first batter he faced, Andres Chaparro blasted a three-run homer, the second for the Railriders in the game, to increase their lead to 6-0 with one out in the fifth inning. Still with one out in the fifth, Bauers hit a 433 ft home run into right field, a two-run shot, made the score 8-0.
The WooSox got on the board for the first time when Ryan Fitzgerald doubled, allowing Greg Allen and Niko Goodrum to score. Fitzgerald would score on a force out from David Hamitlon, making it a 8-3 game after five innings. Weber was pulled for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after giving up six hits and three runs in 5.2 IP.
Broadway’s night was over after giving up two home runs, three runs in total, along with three hits while only striking out two.
Alfaro hit the WooSox’s first home run of the night into left field, making the score 8-4 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Daniel Palka would then ground out to send the game to the final inning.
The Sox didn’t go away so easily in the bottom of the ninth as they would score two more runs, making the score 8-6. Deivi Garcia was pulled after hitting David Hamilton with a pitch.
James Norwood was able to close it out for Scranton, and the WooSox dropped their sixth consecutive game. They will look to bounce back against the Railroaders tomorrow at Polar Park in the second game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET.
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