Red Sox Minor League Report: WooSox Defy All Odds with Wild Comeback Walk-Off Victory

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 47-46

Game 1 of Doubleheader 

For the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader, Worcester won a low-scoring back-and-forth affair 3-2 against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami Marlins). Worcester snuck out with a win with just three hits as a team while Jacksonville had six. 

The Jumbo Shrimp jumped on top early in the first with a solo shot, but the Sox responded immediately in the bottom half with a Mikey Romero RBI groundout to tie it 1-1.

It was quiet through the next few innings, but Jacksonville strung a couple of singles together in the fourth, bringing in a run to get themselves a 2-1 lead.

The Sox answered back once again in the bottom half, working a two-out rally. Allan Castro reached base with two outs, Vinny Capra came through in a big moment with an RBI double to tie the game, then Kristian Campbell gave the WooSox their first lead of the game with an RBI single, 3-2.

Blake Wehunt made his WooSox debut after a promotion from Double-A. The 6’7” righty looked solid as he threw just 3 ⅔ innings with four strikeouts and gave up two runs (one earned). Worcester’s bullpen held their own the rest of the way; Angel Bastardo, Tyler Uberstine, and Wyatt Olds combined for 3 ⅓ shutout innings.

Game 2 of Doubleheader

The WooSox pulled off an incredible comeback from being down seven runs, ending the game 13-12 against the Jumbo Shrimp.

Jacksonville jumped out early with a homer in the first inning and a grand slam in the second to make it 7-0 before Worcester had scored. The WooSox chipped back with a pair of RBI singles from Tyler McDonough and Nick Sogard in the second, and a double play from Andrew Knizner brought in a run in the third, 7-3. 

The Jumbo Shrimp kept pushing across more runs with a three-run fourth inning, putting the Sox in a big hole once again, 10-4. Now down six runs, Worcester did not flinch as they broke through with a massive six-run fourth, keyed by Kristian Campbell's two-run homer and an RBI hit from Nick Sogard and a bases-loaded walk from Brett Harris. Sogard stole home, and a wild pitch from Jacksonville's pitcher tied the game up 10-10.

Jacksonville answered with two in the fifth to lead 12-10; it stayed there up until the bottom of the seventh. 

That's where Worcester finished it: Allan Castro singled, Vinny Capra doubled, and Campbell walked to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, another wild pitch came at a good time, scoring Castro to make it a one-run game. An intentional walk to Sogard loaded the bases once again, now with two outs; Mickey Gasper laced a two-run double as the Jumbo Shrimp center fielder misplayed the ball, completely overrunning the ball, bringing in Capra and Campbell to walk it off 13-12.

Standout Performances: 

• Mickey Gasper: 3-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
• Vinny Capra: 3-for-4, 2 2B, 2 R
• Kristian Campbell: 1-for-2, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Nick Sogard: 2-for-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 49-42

The Sea Dogs offense fell asleep as they suffered an uneventful 2-1 loss to Binghamton (New York Mets).

Regardless of the fact that Portland’s offense was shut down all game, Hayden Mullins was incredible in his five-inning start, leaving a donut on the scoreboard while striking out eight Rumble Ponies. 

Portland’s bats only tallied four hits and one run with the top three batters in the lineup (Franklin Arias, Miguel Bleis, and Jack Winnay) going a combined 0-for-10. 

The only run for the Sea Dogs came in the third inning. Ahbram Liendo singled on an infield blooper, then stole his 17th bag of the season, putting him on second base with no outs. Nelly Taylor provided a productive out, advancing the runner to third with a groundout. Franklin Arias followed up with a sacrifice fly as Liendo crossed the plate to put them up 1-0.

Portland had a perfect chance to extend their lead in the fifth after loading the bases with no outs, but Taylor struck out on three pitches, and Arias grounded into a double play to end the inning. 

That chance came back to haunt them when the Rumble Ponies smoked a two-run single to make it a 2-1 game. The Sea Dogs came close to tying it in the ninth with two outs and runners on second and third; sadly, Liendo flew out to left field to end the game.

Standout Performance:

• Hayden Mullins: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 37-52

After scoring just one run in the game prior, Greenville’s offense obliterated the Spartanburgers (Texas Rangers) 13-6.

The Drive had one of their most productive games of the year, going 6-for-13 with RISP, blasting three homers, and racking up two doubles, while seven of their nine batters collected multi-hit games.

Greenville was hot through the first three innings, with Enddy Azocar putting the nail in the coffin with a towering grand slam in the third inning, putting his team on top 9-0. Justin Gonzales also had a nice day at the plate, including a three-run bomb in the seventh that ended with a bench-clearing brawl between Gonzales and Hub City’s catcher, putting the game completely out of reach 13-6.

The third home run came from Yoeilin Cespedes, who blasted a solo shot, his 17th homer of the year, to extend Greenville’s lead to 10-6. Ronny Hernandez and Luke Heyman added to the frenzy with multi-hit, two-RBI days at the plate.

Alex Bouchard looked solid in his three-inning shutout start, while striking out three batters. Joe Vogatsky got rocked in his relief appearance during the middle part of the game, including some defensive miscues from the Drive’s defense. Calvin Bickerstaff did an amazing job at shutting down the opposing offense, tossing 4 ⅓ scoreless one-hit innings with four strikeouts.

Standout Performances:

• Justin Gonzales: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB
• Enddy Azocar: 2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
• Yoeilin Cespedes: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, RBI
• Calvin Bickerstaff: 4 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 K

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Season Record: 39-52

The Yaks bounced back and put up nine runs on the GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves) with a final score of 9-3.

Christian Fouch started on the mound for Salem and had some control problems, issuing four walks and two runs on three hits. The GreenJackets brought in one run each in the first and third innings, putting them on top 2-0. 

Kleyver Salazar had an amazing 3-for-4 game for the RidgeYaks, including a three-run shot in the third inning that not just put his team on the board, but also gave them a 3-2 lead.

Salem did not trail another time for the rest of the game as they poured on runs. D’Angelo Ortiz contributed with an RBI single in the fourth; later on in the seventh, Andrews Opata roped an RBI double, and Salazar collected his fourth RBI of the game after lining a single to center field to extend the lead to 6-3

Two long balls came in the eighth; Louis Andujar continued to look more comfortable in Low-A, hammering a solo shot. Ortiz struck out but ended up on first base due to a wild drop third strike, which set up an Ilan Fernandez two-run bomb, putting the game way out of reach, 9-3.

Yermain Ruiz was terrific in his relief outing, tossing four innings and allowing just one run to earn his first save of the season. Nicolas De La Cruz kept the game in reach with 1 ⅓ shutout innings when he came in after Fouch.

Standout Performances:

• Yermain Ruiz: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K
• Kleyver Salazar: 3-for-4, HR, R, 4 RBI
• Louis Andujar: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI
• Ilan Fernandez: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI

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