Red Sox Minor League Report: WooSox Take Home an Extra-Inning Victory in Lehigh Valley

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (June 17)

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 35-32

An extra-inning thriller ended with a 7-4 victory for the WooSox while facing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

The WooSox jumped out fast in the first inning. Braiden Ward led off the game with a single, then showed how much of a threat he is on the basepaths, stealing second and third base (his 31st and 32nd of the season). Vinny Capra followed with a single, bringing in Ward, then Kristian Campbell added a sacrifice fly to score Capra, giving his team a 2-0 lead.

The Sox extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth with a Nathan Hickey solo shot (his fourth of the season) to right-center. Lehigh Valley got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer of their own, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Worcester once again extended their lead 4-1 in the sixth after Tyler McDonough singled in Allan Castro, restoring the three-run cushion. 

The IronPigs stormed back in the sixth, stunning the Woosox. Lehigh Valley doubled in a run, then tied it 4-4 with a two-run homer. It was a pitchers' duel through the next three innings, pushing the tied game to extra innings.

The WooSox broke it open in extras. Hickey singled in the go-ahead run (Castro), McDonough followed with an RBI single, and Capra capped it with another RBI single for the 7-4 final.

Worcester pounded out 12 hits. Hickey was the star, going 2-for-4 with a homer, the go-ahead hit in the 10th, two RBIs, and two runs. Capra went 2-for-6 with two RBIs (including the early RBI single and the 10th-inning insurance run), McDonough chipped in two hits and two RBIs off the bench, and Castro reached base three times and scored twice, including a stolen base.

On the mound, Osvaldo Berrios started and tossed three shutout innings with two strikeouts. Eduardo Rivera followed after, giving up one run in two innings of work. Seth Martinez was charged with the blown save after giving up three runs in the sixth. Alec Gamboa tossed two perfect innings with two strikeouts. Kyle Keller got the win with two scoreless innings, including the 10th inning, while striking out four.

Standout Performances:

• Kyle Keller: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Nathan Hickey: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
• Vinny Capra: 2-for-6, R, 2 RBI
• Allan Castro: 2-for-4, 2 R, BB, SB

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 32-32

The Sea Dogs suffered a heartbreaker, blowing a lead in the ninth, then losing in extra innings 5-4 to the Patriots.

The first run of the game came in the fourth when Somerset launched a solo homer to left-center, giving them a 1-0 lead.

The Sea Dogs flipped it in the sixth. Ronald Rosario tripled in two runs (Romy Gonzalez and Brooks Brannon), then Miguel Bleis singled in Rosario to make it 3-1.

Portland extended its lead in the seventh with an Ahbram Liendo double, bringing in Stanley Tucker for a 4-1 cushion.

It seemed that the Sea Dogs had the game in control once they entered the ninth, but that was not the case; Somerset rallied to tie it. The Patriots doubled in two runs, then another came around to score after a wild pitch. Just like that, the Patriots pushed across three in the inning to knot it at 4-4.

With the game now in extras and the ghost runner on second, a groundout forced the runner over to third base, then another grounder forced the runner to score, putting them up 5-4. Portland had a chance to walk it off, Tucker worked a walk, then a sacrifice bunt by Nelly Taylor, with some help from a throwing error, moved the ghost runner to third, loading the bases with no outs. But somehow, the Sea Dogs' best bats could not capitalize, going three up and three down.

On the mound, Patrick Sandoval turned in a strong three-inning outing in his rehab start (one earned run with four K’s), then Dalton Rogers followed with four scoreless innings. But the bullpen faltered late: Reidis Sena coughed up the 4-1 lead with three runs in the ninth, and Cooper Adams took the loss after the 10th-inning run. 

Standout Performances: 

• Dalton Rodgers: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K
• Patrick Sandoval: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 26-36

The Drive took a lopsided 11-2 defeat to the BlueClaws, splitting the series 1-1.

Greenville’s bats could not get anything going; their first run came in the fourth when they were down 4-0. Justin Gonzales drew a lead-off walk, then advanced to second base after a balk from the pitcher. Yoeilin Cespedes followed up with a double to right, scoring Gonzales for the Drive's first run, 4-1.

The second and final run Greenville recorded happened in the eighth inning on a Yophery Rodriguez single that brought in Gerardo Rodriguez, making the score 6-2. The BlueClaws made it an embarrassing blowout in the bottom half with a five-run eighth inning.

For Greenville at the plate, it was a quiet night: just five hits as a team. Rodriguez led the way with a 2-for-4 day (the Drive’s only batter with multiple hits) and an RBI. Cespedes added the RBI double, and Gonzales reached base three times and scored a run.

Starting on the mound for Greenville, Dylan Brown got knocked around, getting charged with six earned runs over four innings while taking the loss. Calvin Bickerstaff was sharp in his relief appearance, tossing three scoreless innings with three K’s. But it unraveled once again after that: Danny Kirwin gave up five runs in the disastrous eighth.

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Season Record: 24-40

A rough night at the plate for Salem led to a shutout loss to the Nationals, 3-0.

It was a scoreless game through six innings. The bright spot for Salem was Leighton Finley, who pitched outstandingly, throwing five shutout, one-hit innings while striking out six batters. 

The bullpen couldn't hold the line: Adam Bates took the loss after surrendering the first run of the game (sacrifice fly) in the seventh, while Griffin Kilander gave up two runs in relief (two-run homer) in the eighth.

At the plate, Salem tallied just five hits and was held off the board despite drawing some walks, going 0-for-8 with RISP. Avinson Pinto had the lone extra-base hit (a double), Adonys Guzman and Anderson Fermin each had a hit and reached twice via walks, but the RidgeYaks never strung together enough to push a run across.

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