By Tiffany Williams –
WORCESTER — In the span of 24 hours, the Worcester Red Sox experienced both extremes of baseball.
One night they were celebrating a dramatic walk-off victory under the lights at Polar Park. The next morning they were overwhelmed by a relentless Buffalo Bisons offense in one of their most lopsided defeats of the season.
The two-game swing perfectly captured the unpredictability of Triple-A baseball and left the WooSox looking to regroup as their six-game series against Buffalo continued.
Tuesday night belonged to Worcester’s resilience.
After managing just one hit through eight innings and appearing destined for defeat, the WooSox erupted in the bottom of the ninth inning to steal a 3-2 victory in stunning fashion. The comeback began when Anthony Seigler opened the inning with a fortunate double after Buffalo right fielder RJ Schreck lost a fly ball in the night sky above Polar Park. Kristian Campbell moved Seigler to third base with a groundout, setting the stage for Mikey Romero.
Romero delivered the biggest swing of the night, drilling a game-tying triple into the left-center field gap. Tsung-Che Cheng entered as a pinch runner and moments later raced home with the winning run when Buffalo reliever CJ Van Eyk threw a wild pitch with two strikes and two outs.
Just like that, Worcester had completed another improbable comeback.
The victory marked the WooSox’s third walk-off win of the season, their eighth final at-bat victory and their 11th come-from-behind triumph. It also continued a recent trend of tight games. After playing only eight one-run contests through their first 50 games, Worcester suddenly found itself in the middle of four one-run games over a five-game stretch.
Lost amid the late-inning heroics was another dominant outing from Jake Bennett.
The Worcester ace continued to build his case as one of the International League’s top pitchers, tossing five shutout innings while allowing only a fifth-inning double. Bennett walked three and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 1.60. The 25-year-old left-hander has now allowed just seven earned runs across 39.1 innings this season while recording 41 strikeouts against only nine walks.
When Bennett exited with a 1-0 lead, it appeared another strong start might go to waste after Buffalo scored twice in the sixth inning against Noah Song. Song entered the game carrying a nine-inning scoreless streak over his previous seven relief appearances but could not preserve the advantage.
Fortunately for Worcester, the bullpen recovered. Zack Kelly supplied two scoreless innings and Kyle Keller tossed a scoreless ninth inning before the offense delivered its dramatic finish.
If Tuesday represented one of Worcester’s most thrilling victories of the season, Wednesday delivered one of its harshest reality checks.
The Bisons broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the seventh inning before unleashing a devastating nine-run avalanche across the final two innings to cruise to a 12-0 victory.
The loss spoiled what had otherwise been a festive day at Polar Park, where more than 3,200 students from 27 communities and 33 schools attended the annual STEM Day event. A crowd of 7,295 watched as Buffalo transformed a pitchers’ duel into a runaway victory.
For six innings, neither team could generate much offense.
Jack Anderson gave Worcester exactly what it needed. The right-hander worked four scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out four. Buffalo starter Josh Fleming was even better.
Fleming dominated the WooSox lineup over seven shutout innings, surrendering only two hits while retiring 17 consecutive batters at one point. The veteran left-hander did not walk a batter and struck out five while lowering his ERA to 2.11.
The game remained scoreless until the seventh inning when Buffalo finally broke through.
Eduardo Rivera had successfully navigated the fifth and sixth innings before trouble arrived in the seventh. A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases for Josh Rivera, who delivered a two-run single to right field. Carlos Mendoza followed with an RBI double, pushing the Buffalo lead to 3-0.
Then came the knockout blow.
Buffalo exploded for six runs in the eighth inning, the most runs Worcester has allowed in a single inning all season. Angel Bastardo absorbed much of the damage as Buffalo repeatedly found gaps and drove in runs. Jacob Webb entered but could not stop the surge before Buffalo carried a commanding advantage into the ninth inning.
By the time Carlos Mendoza connected on a three-run home run in the ninth against first baseman Nathan Hickey, who had been called upon to finish the game on the mound, the outcome had long been decided.
Mendoza finished with three hits and five RBI, becoming the central figure in Buffalo’s offensive explosion.
Worcester’s offense never recovered from Fleming’s dominance. The WooSox managed only three hits all afternoon and were shut out for the fifth time this season. Braiden Ward’s ninth-inning single ended a stretch of 21 consecutive Worcester batters retired, but it provided little consolation.
The contrasting results left the WooSox searching for consistency.
One night they showcased their resilience, patience and ability to manufacture late-game magic. The next day they were overpowered in every phase of the game by a Buffalo club eager to respond after Tuesday’s crushing defeat.
As the series moves forward, Worcester will attempt to recapture the form that carried it through its recent winning streak and avoid allowing one difficult afternoon to erase the momentum built over the previous week. The teams continue their six-game series Thursday night at Polar Park, where the WooSox will look to bounce back and once again remind everyone why this club has spent much of the season battling near the top of the International League standings.