-By Darryl Harding Sr
The second game of this Worcester Redsox homestand finds the Woosox leading the series 1-0, against the Buffalo Bison. Clear skies and 70° faces fans as righty starter Cooper Criswell climbs the hill.
Criswell completed twenty-one games with seventy-two KOs overall. Breezing through the initial two innings without change to the scoreboard, Criswell ran into some issues in the third.
Bison southpaw starter Easton Lucas had a similar beginning but managed to coral the Woosox bats a slight bit more than Worcester could inflict damage. Buffalo directed the first audit to the score, tacked on two in the top of the third.
Bison CF Devonte Brown took a high cutter over the fence for a two run homer and although Woosox got one back off a Woosox SS Nick Sogard, the Woosox still trailed 2-1. Buffalo increased the advantage by one, in the fourth, before Criswell was relieved.
Criswell threw just under sixty pitches with thirty-seven in the zone. Criswell was replaced by lefty Jovani Moran, who spun through two scoreless innings. Meanwhile Woosox bats rang true, orchestrating a comeback with back to back RBI singles by CF Jhostynxon Garcia and DH Kristian Campbell, in the fifth.
Now tied up at 3-3 it wasn’t until the seventh inning that there was a change. In to pitch for the Woosox was southpaw Brennan Bernardino. Immediately loading the bases and relinquishing the go ahead on a hit batsman, Bernardino desperately locked in and struck out three batters in a row to finish the inning and keep the score from getting out of hand.
Woosox manager Chad Tracy commented after the game, “ to get to the ninth there in a one run ballgame…sometimes things happen, you get in jams, but you gotta give credit, for guys to continue to pitch and keep us there and give us a chance.”
Unfortunately for Sox fans Buffalo chalking up three more runs in the ninth inning, squashing any chances of a Worcester recovery. With the final 7-3 Woosox drop game two and the Bison even up the series 1-1. More baseball in a matinee game at 12:05 pm Thursday.