By Cooper Boardman –
The Worcester Red Sox (12-14) ripped off their fourth straight victory to complete a series win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-17), a 5-0 final score on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Polar Park.
On the mound, James Paxton delivered a dominant fifth Triple-A outing of the season, posting the following line: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K on 90 pitches (65 strikes). The left-hander recorded five strikeouts on the four-seam fastball (which reached 96.1 miles-per-hour) and three on his cutter.
Paxton retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, a stretch interrupted only by a leadoff walk in the second, and earned the win.
Worcester’s offense did its job too, giving the home team an early lead with a three-run second inning. Jorge Alfaro and Greg Allen began the inning with back-to-back singles against former WooSox and Red Sox Ryan Weber. Daniel Palka was next, and he cracked an RBI single through the left side to plate the game’s first run. Ryan Fitzgerald followed with a fly ball that eluded the SWB right fielder in the corner, falling for an RBI double to make it 2-0. One batter later, Caleb Hamilton lifted a sac-fly to right, the final run of the frame.
It was still 3-0 entering the bottom of the sixth, when Palka came to the plate with two on and one out. He copied his third-inning swing, grounding a ball into left to give Worcester an insurance run.
Cam Booser tossed a hitless 1.2 innings and Joe Jacques added a zero in the eighth before the WooSox added on in the bottom of the inning, again thanks to Palka. Allen was hit by a pitch with two outs, then stole second; he is now 11-for-11 in stolen bases, the most in the International League among runners who have not been caught stealing.
That again put a man in scoring position for Palka, who blooped a ball to center for his third RBI single of the day. Palka, who came in with four hits over his previous 52 at-bats, notched his first three-RBI day of the season.
Chase Shugart finished the afternoon with a scoreless ninth, as Worcester allowed a nine-inning season-low four hits.
The WooSox are off Monday, but continue the two-week homestand on Tuesday night at 6:45 p.m. against the Buffalo Bisons, affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. On the mound, Chris Murphy (1-1, 7.80) is set to get the start for Worcester. Television coverage is on NESN+, while radio coverage is live at 6:25 p.m. on 100.1 FM The Pike, 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.
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