Sweep Dreams Come True
Worcester, MA – Kristian Campbell drilled a pair of doubles, Braiden Ward had 3 hits, and the pair scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the 8th inning as the Worcester Red Sox rallied for a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon to complete a 6-game sweep of
Worcester, MA – Kristian Campbell drilled a pair of doubles, Braiden Ward had 3 hits, and the pair scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the 8th inning as the Worcester Red Sox rallied for a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon to complete a 6-game sweep of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at Polar Park.
WooSox right fielder Allan Castro brought the crowd of 7,063 to their feet with a brilliant diving catch for the second out of the 9th inning to preserve the lead and extend Worcester’s winning streak to a season-high 6 games in a row. The Sox have also won 7 straight games at Polar Park and 15 of their last 21 games overall.
Ward put the WooSox ahead with an RBI double in the 3rd inning scoring Jason Delay (walk). Jacksonville tied matters at 1-1 on a solo HR by Rece Hinds in the 4th inning off Sox spot starter Michael Sansone, who was back from Portland for the 6th time this season. The Connecticut native went 3.2 innings and allowed just the one run with 3 strikeouts.
Worcester regained the lead in the 5th when Campbell ripped a 105 line shot double down the left field line to plate Castro (walk). Campbell has now hit in 8 straight games (11-for-22) with 2 HR, 8 RBI, and 8 runs scored and in his last 18 games is batting .364.
Andrew Pinter’s 2-run HR in the 6th put the Shrimp back on top, 3-2 and that lead held until the bottom of the 8th inning. Campbell led off the frame with his second double of the game, and after an out, came diving across the plate on a clutch RBI single by Ward. The speedy Ward (43 stolen bases on the season) went to 2nd on the throw home and would race around with the go-ahead run when Franklin Arias smacked a hard ground ball that got past Jacksonville second baseman Gage Miller for an error. (Ward’s 3 hits and Campbell’s 2 hits accounted for all 5 of Worcester hits on the day).
Tommy Kahnle (2-1) got the last out in the 8th and then finished off the 9th with a strikeout to earn the victory.
The WooSox out-scored the Jumbo Shrimp during the 6-game series by a 46-23 count and pushed Jacksonville’s losing streak to 12 consecutive games. For Worcester it was just their third 6-game sweep in their now nearly six year existence. The WooSox swept a 6-game set at Rochester during their inaugural 2021 season and swept a 6-game series at home vs. Rochester last year from June 3-8, 2025. Worcester did sweep an abbreviated 5-game series at St. Paul earlier this season from March 31 – April 5.
The Sox are now 15-11 in the 2nd half and 5-games above .500 overall on the season (at 51-46) for the first time since they were 33-28 on June 9.
The WooSox will fly to Norfolk, Virginia during their off-day tomorrow (Monday) in advance of facing the Norfolk Tides (AAA-Baltimore) for the first time this season. The 6-game series at Harbor Park begins Tuesday at 6:35 pm and will feature five night games through Saturday (all at 6:35 pm) before concluding next Sunday at 1:05 pm.
Tuesday’s series opener from Virginia will air on NASH 98.9 FM and The Pike 100.1 FM with WooSox broadcasters Jim Cain and Alex Jensen on the call.
The WooSox will be back in action at Polar Park on Tuesday, August 4 when they start their longest homestand of the year…12 games through August 16 with 6-game sets against both Lehigh Valley and Buffalo.