By Paul Vangos
On Thursday night, the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, faced off against the hosting Worcester Red Sox at Polar Park on a golden evening in Worcester, MA. Entering the third game of this series, where the two teams split the opening two contests, Worcester was looking to dust off a 12-0 drubbing at the hands of the Bisons on Wednesday Night. Meanwhile, Buffalo was looking to ride the momentum to another win in Worcester.
The WooSox sent Devin Sweet out to the mound to begin the night, while Dylan Cease made a rehab start for the Bisons. He strained his hamstring against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 24, and was looking to get back into form before rejoining Blue Jays.
The Bisons threatened with two one-out singles off of Sweet in the first inning, but he retired the side with two straight strikeouts and no damage. In the bottom half, the WooSox went down in order to begin the ballgame.
After consecutive walks placed runners on first and second with nobody out, Sweet rebounded to strike out Rafael Lantigua, then Josh Rivera grounded into a 6-4-3 Double Play to end the top of the second inning.
In the bottom of the second, Worcester hammered Dylan Cease courtesy of an Allan Castro double, followed by a Matt Lloyd RBI single and Tsung-Che Cheng’s fifth home run of the year, a blast to dead center. In the top of the third, Devin Sweet was pulled, and Osvaldo Berrios pitched three flawless innings in relief.
On the flip side, Dylan Cease was tagged for two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Braiden Ward hit a lead-off bomb over the right field wall, then Vinny Capra singled, stole second, and Allan Castro drove him home with a single. All told, Cease lasted fourvinnings, punched out six batters, but gave up fivecruns.
Both bullpens locked up the offenses for the remainder of the game, besides Jonatan Clase’s third home run of the season for the Bisons in the seventh inning off of Seth Martinez. Worcester’s pitching staff held Buffalo to four hits and one run, and while the bats went cold for the Sox, the five-run burst early on was enough for a comfortable lead heading into the ninth inning.
Heading into the final inning, Worcester’s Wyatt Olds stayed on the mound after pitching the eighth inning. With one out, Clase and Je’Von Ward beat out two infield singles to put a runner in scoring position. However, this rally was snuffed out immediately, as Riley Tirotta grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
While Buffalo’s relievers held Worcester scoreless after the third inning, the offense couldn’t overcome the five-run deficit and Worcester’s strong pitching. Osvaldo Cabrera earned credit for the win after pitching three scoreless innings to the tune of two strikeouts and just one hit.
Dylan Cease was given the loss in his first start back from injury, so it’ll be interesting to see if he will spend more time in the Minor Leagues or go right back to the Majors.
An interesting development was seen in the fourth inning: Kristian Campbell, who has been struggling mightily as of late for the WooSox, was yanked from the game after going 0-2 with two strikeouts in his first two at-bats. Tyler McDonough took his place in Center Field, getting his first taste of Triple A ball. Time will tell if this change is just a flash in the pan, or a long-term move as a result of Campbell’s recent poor play.
Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer will be starting tomorrow for the Bisons, which should be a real treat for the folks in Worcester. While the WooSox hold a 2-1 series lead heading into the weekend, they will have to keep the good play up in order to take the series over Buffalo. Stay tuned for more WooSox updates at NewsTalk New England.