Story & Hernandez Homer, Red Wings Rally to Beat WooSox 6-5

Drohan Turns in Quality Start, Sogard & Fitzgerald Drive Home Runs in Defeat

By Cooper Boardman

July 28, 2023

WORCESTER, M.A. — For the second straight night, the Rochester Red Wings (48-50, 14-11) rallied for two ninth-inning runs to beat the Worcester Red Sox (53-46, 14-10) a 6-5 loss for the home team at Polar Park on Friday night. After Erick Mejia opened the scoring with a solo shot

WORCESTER, M.A. — For the second straight night, the Rochester Red Wings (48-50, 14-11) rallied for two ninth-inning runs to beat the Worcester Red Sox (53-46, 14-10) a 6-5 loss for the home team at Polar Park on Friday night.

After Erick Mejia opened the scoring with a solo shot in the first, Trevor Story stepped up two batters in to the bottom of the inning. Story took one pitch, then blasted the second for a solo home run, a 103 mile-per-hour shot to left for his third hit of the week.

Story played five innings at shortstop, going 1-for-2 with the homer and a walk.

Ronaldo Hernandez gave Worcester the lead with a solo homer of his own in the second, a line drive to left for his 12^th of the season. Rochester continued the home run fest in the fourth on a Jacob Nottingham homer, tying the game at two.

The teams again traded runs in the fifth—Drew Millas led off with a triple in the fifth, and two batters later, Jeter Downs scored him on a sac-fly. The WooSox answered with two, plating the game-tying run on a wild pitch and taking the lead on a Nick Sogard RBI double.

Sogard’s two-out swing gave him his second double in as many days, upping his July slugging percentage to a season-best .456.

Worcester starter Shane Drohan went six frames, allowing three earned runs with six strikeouts. The left-hander tied his Triple-A high in innings, working six for the third time this year and first since June 15.

Ryan Fitzgerald ripped an RBI single in the sixth to extend the home team’s lead to 5-3, his 50^th RBI in 63 games.

Justin Hagenman and Nick Robertson, acquired in a trade with the Dodgers earlier this week, made their Red Sox organizational debuts. Hagenman tossed a runless seventh, while Robertson allowed a solo homer to Jack Dunn to make it 5-4 WooSox.

Rochester rallied for two in the ninth off A.J. Politi, which would ultimately win the road team the game. Down to their final strike, Jack Dunn gave the Red Wings the lead with a two-run double.

Worcester would fail to score in the ninth, falling for the third time in four games.

The WooSox continue the six-game series Saturday at 4:05 p.m. at Polar Park against the Rochester Red Wings. On the mound, Brandon Walter (1-5, 6.08) faces Anthony Banda (0-2, 7.88). Television coverage is on NESN, while radio coverage is live at 3:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.