Late Rally, Shutdown 'Pen Fuel WooSox Comeback Win in St. Paul
ST. PAUL, MN – The Worcester Red Sox (3-2) got 5.1 innings of scoreless relief from four bullpen arms and scored five unanswered runs including two in the top of the 9th inning to defeat the St. Paul Saints (3-2) 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon at CHS Field. Wednesday’s win represents
ST. PAUL, MN – The Worcester Red Sox (3-2) got 5.1 innings of scoreless relief from four bullpen arms and scored five unanswered runs including two in the top of the 9th inning to defeat the St. Paul Saints (3-2) 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon at CHS Field. Wednesday’s win represents the first time the WooSox have secured back-to-back victories and puts them over .500 for the first time in 2026.
Thanks to one swing of the bat in the bottom of the 3rd, the WooSox found themselves in a four-run hole. With the bases loaded and two outs, Saints outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez hit a 1-0 pitch from Worcester starter Jack Anderson over the wall in right center for a grand slam, giving St. Paul a 4-0 lead.
The Worcester comeback began in the next half inning. With two outs in the top of the 4th Tsung-Che Cheng hit his first WooSox home run, a solo shot to right center field to cut the St. Paul lead to 4-1.
The WooSox continued to chip away with single runs in the 7th and 8th. Thanks to two walks and a single by Mikey Romero, the WooSox loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 7th for Kristian Campbell who hit a screaming line drive that was caught by Saints right fielder Alan Roden to score Braiden Ward from third for a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. After Cheng started the top of the 8th with a single and stole second base, Matt Thaiss hit a ground-rule double down the left field line to drive in his first run of the day, bringing the WooSox within one at 4-3.
After Wyatt Olds posted a scoreless bottom of the 8th, the WooSox took their first lead of the day in the top of the 9th. Alan Castro started the rally with a one-out walk against Saints reliever Marco Raya and with Nate Eaton pinch-running, Matt Lloyd grounded a single to center field to put runners on the corners. Cheng then brought Eaton home from third on a sacrifice bunt to make it 4-4, and with runners at first and second and still just one out Thaiss followed with a single through the right side to score Lloyd from second base to give the WooSox their first lead, 5-4.
Olds retired the side in order in the bottom of the 9th to seal the win for Worcester.
The bullpen quartet of Noah Song, Zack Kelly, Tyler Samaniego and Olds gave the WooSox the opportunity to stage their comeback, combining to blank the Saints over 5.1 innings in relief of Anderson while allowing two hits and striking out five.
Olds (2-0) picked up the win for Worcester allowing just one hit over 2.0 scoreless frames, while Raya (0-1) was tagged with the loss for St. Paul surrendering two runs on two hits in the top of the 9th.
The WooSox will try to make it three in a row to begin the week in the Twin Cities in game three of the series on Thursday evening. In a battle of southpaws, Jake Bennett (0-1, 0.00) will make his second start for Worcester, while Connor Prielipp (0-0, 2.25) is scheduled to toe the slab for St. Paul. Radio coverage begins at 7:15 pm on 98.9 Nash Icon and the rest of the WooSox Radio Network.