Worcester Red Sox Open Series Against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders With 8-4 Win
By Stephen Ur –
The Worcester Red Sox opened up the first of a two-series homestand at Polar Park in Worcester, MA on Tuesday evening as they hosted the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders, the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees. The WooSox were coming off a series in Buffalo in which they dropped five of the games in that series. Jason Alexander took the mound for Worcester in this game.
Scraton-Wilkes Barre got on the board first in the top of the second inning as Jose Rojas hit an RBI groundout, allowing Taylor Trammell to score. Former WooSox shortstop Jeter Downs, now playing for the RailRiders, got to third base. Kevin Smith would be called out on strikes, ending the inning and the scare for Worcester.
The WooSox would tie the game in the bottom half of the inning as Nathan Hickey scored on an RBI groundout from Niko Kavadas. Bobby Dalbec would give them a 2-1 lead when he scored on a double from Mark Contreras. Contreras would extend the lead to 3-1, all runs being scored with two outs, on an RBI single from Eddy Alverez.
The RailRiders the deficit in half as Everson Periera knocked a home run into left field with two outs in the top of the third. Emmanuel Valdez would answer back with a home run of his own in the bottom of the third, making it a two-run game once more at 4-2 with one out.
Contreras would add to the WooSox lead with a two-run homer, his second of the season, to make it a 6-2 game.
With an 8-4 lead and two outs in the top of the seventh inning, WooSox pitcher Chase Shugart got Carlos Narvaez swinging and striking out to end the inning.
Pitching would keep the Railriders off the board the rest of the game, and the WooSox took the opening game of the series by the final score of 8-4. The two teams will meet for the second game of the series tomorrow afternoon at Polar Park. First pitch is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. ET.
