By Tiffany Williams –
The Worcester Red Sox had no answer for veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda on Wednesday night, falling 5-1 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Polar Park.
The 37-year-old Maeda, who has logged nine years in the majors, took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Nathan Hickey spoiled the bid with a two-out solo shot over the Worcester Wall. Hickey’s blast was the WooSox’ lone hit of the game, as Maeda finished with a dominant line of 7.2 innings, one hit, one run, one walk and nine strikeouts on 100 pitches.
The win moved the first-place RailRiders to 79-52 and kept them perfect at 5-0 in Worcester this season. The WooSox dropped to 67-66 with the loss.
Maeda, who has pitched for the Dodgers, Twins and Tigers, started this year in Detroit’s bullpen before brief stints with Iowa (AAA Cubs) and now Scranton/WB, where he has gone 5-6 overall in Triple-A this season.
Worcester starter Jose De Leon (0-7) struck out the first four hitters he faced but faltered in the second inning, walking in a run before giving up an RBI infield single to Jorbit Vivas. He was tagged for four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, walking four and striking out seven.
Scranton/WB added insurance in the fifth on RBI singles by Jose Rojas and Bryan De La Cruz, who later homered in the ninth to finish 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The WooSox bullpen held up, with David Sandlin, Chris Murphy and Isaac Coffey combining for 4.1 innings of three-hit ball, striking out six.
Game three of the six-game set is Thursday at 6:05 p.m. at Polar Park. Worcester sends lefty Shane Drohan (3-0, 1.78 ERA) to the mound against RailRiders ace Allan Winans, who is a perfect 11-0 with a 1.18 ERA and has led Scranton/WB to an 18-0 record in his 18 starts.