Grissom Goes 4-for-4 in 8-5 WooSox Win

TOLEDO, OH – Red Sox rehabber Vaughn Grissom went 4-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs to help the Worcester Red Sox (11-15) take home an 8-5 win in Sunday’s series finale against the Toledo Mud Hens (16-11) at Fifth Third Field.

Grissom lined singles to right field in each of his first two at bats, worked a bases-loaded walk in the fourth, singled and scored in the sixth, and knocked in a run with a single to center in the seventh. He’s now 10-for-30 (.333) with two doubles, five walks, and two steals in nine games with Worcester.

The WooSox fell behind 2-0 on a second-inning two-run double from Dillon Dingler, but responded with eight unanswered runs, including two in the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh innings.

Corey Rosier started the comeback with a no-doubt shot to lead off the top of the third, demolishing a first-pitch cutter from Michael Bienlien (L, 0-1) 394 feet to right. His first homer of the season clanged off the bottom half of the light tower beyond the right-field fence. Rosier added two singles later in the day for his first three-hit game in Triple-A.

Eddy Alvarez tied the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly five batters later, and the WooSox kept the foot on the gas with another pair of runs in the fourth. Each of the first six batters reached against Wilmer Flores, including an RBI single from Chase Meidroth and a bases-loaded walk to Grissom that gave Worcester a 4-2 lead.

Grissom and Nathan Hickey hit back-to-back singles in the sixth to set the table for Alvarez, who delivered a two-out, two-run wall-ball single to right, extending the advantage to 6-2. Niko Kavadas made it 7-2 with a towering blast to lead off the seventh. Perhaps his most impressive homer yet, number five for Niko sailed an estimated 442 feet and nearly punctured the batter’s eye in straightaway center.

Four batters later, Grissom’s fourth and final single scored Corey Rosier, who had reached second on a base hit and a ground out.

The insurance runs proved pivotal as Toledo rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-5, and put two runners in scoring position in the ninth before Lucas Luetge (S, 1) induced a game-ending fly ball to left.

The WooSox exclusively used relief pitchers for a second-straight day, with Justin Hagenman tossing 2.1 innings in a spot start. Dingler’s two-run double was the only real damage, as Hagenman allowed two runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Robert Kwiatkowski (Quiet-COW-ski) came up huge in his Triple-A debut, holding Toledo off the board over 2.2 one-hit innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Luis Guerrero worked around a hit and a walk in two shutout frames with four strikeouts.

Led by seven combined hits from Grissom and Rosier, eight of Worcester’s nine batters reached base at least once, and the offense went 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

The WooSox return home for a six-game homestand starting on Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Polar Park.