Last week it was off to Lehigh Valley once again for the Worcester Red Sox in their weeklong series against the IronPigs at Coca-Cola Park, and things did not start off well for the WooSox as they dropped the opener 14-5.
Starting pitcher Kyle Hart couldn’t get out of the second inning, allowing five hits and three runs in 1.2 innings. John Schreiber and Matt Hall were no better in relief as Worcester found itself down 13-4 after six frames. Offensively, Tate Matheny had two RBI for Worcester while Connor Wong went 2-3 with two walks. Yairo Munoz scored two of Worcester’s five runs.
The WooSox pitching was a tad better on Wednesday and the bats finally woke up a little bit as Worcester managed ten hits in a 7-4 win. The IronPigs got a run early, but in the second the WooSox took the lead on a Chad De La Guerra three-run shot to right. Lehigh Valley tied it 3-3 in the fourth, and once again Worcester used the longball to retake the lead behind a fifth-inning solo shot by Connor Wong and a Jonathan Arauz launching one the next frame. After a Lehigh Valley run in the seventh Arauz added an eighth-inning RBI single and Yairo Munoz did the same in the ninth for the final.
Stephen Gonsalves earned the win in relief of Marcus Walden, striking out seven in 4.1 innings. Phillips Valdez pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save of the campaign.
Thursday saw the WooSox once again get decent pitching and hitting and that led to a 7-5 victory over the IronPigs. Worcester came out of the gate quickly with two runs in the top of the first off a Connor Wong RBI single and an infield error. Yairo Munoz added a run in the second with an RBI single, and Lehigh Valley answered with two runs in the home half of the frame. Worcester then scored in consecutive innings, in the fourth on a Michael Gettys sacrifice fly and in the fifth on a solo homer by Chris Herrmann.
The IronPigs closed the gap to 5-4 after six, but a seventh-inning sac fly by Herrmann and a ninth-inning solo shot by Munoz was enough to give Worcester the victory. Starter Matthew Kent earned his first AAA win of the season, and Kaleb Ort tacked on his tenth save of the season.
Things got ugly again Friday as the WooSox defense committed four errors en route to an 11-4 loss. Worcester’s lone offensive highlight was a Tate Matheny three-run shot in the eighth innings that was too little, too late. Neither starter Connor Seabold or relievers Matt Hall and Durbin Feltman were particularly effective in the contest.
It was uglier on Saturday for the WooSox was they were swept in a doubleheader by Lehigh Valley, losing 10-7 in the opener and then dropping game two 6-4. In game one Worcester had a 4-0 lead after two at-bats on a first-inning Josh Ockimey three-run homer and a second frame RBI single from Jonathan Arauz, but starter Raynel Espinal couldn’t hold that lead, allowing eight runs in just 2.1 innings.
Tate Matheny’s fourth-inning two-run double made the score 8-7 but the IronPigs added two runs in the sixth for the 10-7 final.
Game two’s starter John Schreiber wasn’t much better than Espinal was in the opener, allowing five runs in the bottom of the first. The WooSox made a game of it beginning in the fourth when Arauz launched a two-run homer to right. After another Lehigh Valley run in the bottom of the frame Yairo Munoz made it 6-3 with a fifth-inning RBI single, but Jett Bandy’s RBI double in the fifth would end the scoring.
As it turns out, it would end the scoring for the WooSox for the series as on Sunday they were shutout 3-0 by the IronPigs. Enmanuel De Jesus took the loss in his first career AAA start but didn’t pitch badly. What did him in was the two home runs he gave up, although when you consider Worcester only managed two hits in the game, perhaps that was the bigger factor.
210Sports’ WooSox of the week
Pitcher: Jose Adames gets the nod in a week where pitching was an issue for the WooSox. He pitched in two games, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one in two innings.
Batter: Yairo Munoz is the easy winner this week, going 12-30 with five doubles and a home run. He also scored seven runs and ends the week on a 19 game hitting streak.
Last week’s transactions
Thursday, July 22: Boston Boston recalled Franchy Cordero from Worcester.
Friday, July 23: Boston recalled Phillips Valdez from Worcester. Worcester activated Connor Seabold from the IL; promoted Kutter Crawford, Durbin Feltman, and Grant Williams from Portland; sent Matt Kent to Portland.
Saturday, July 24: Worcester added Enmanuel De Jesus from Portland.
This week’s schedule
vs Buffalo (Toronto)
Monday: off
Tuesday: 6:30pm
Wednesday: 12:15pm
Thursday: 6:30pm
Friday: 6:30pm
Saturday: 4pm
Sunday: 1pm
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