Holobetz Dazzles in Triple-A Debut as WooSox Top Tides 3-1

NORFOLK, VA – John Holobetz fired 5.2 innings of one-run ball in his Triple-A debut and three relievers finished the job with 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball as the Worcester Red Sox (53-47/17-12) picked up their second straight win with a 3-1 victory over the Norfolk Tides (37-66/9-19) on Thursday night at Harbor Park. With the win the WooSox climb to six games over .500 overall for the first time since May 8, matching their high water mark this season.

For the third straight game this week the WooSox opened the scoring in the top of the 1st inning. Braiden Ward got things started with an infield single and moved up to third on an errant throw to second base by Tides shortstop Jose Barrero on a groundball hit by Franklin Arias to put runners at the corners. Nate Eaton then bounced into a fielder’s choice to bring Ward home to give the WooSox a 1-0 lead.

The Worcester nine tacked on two more against Norfolk starter Nestor German in the top of the 4th. Andrew Knizner led off with a double to left center field and scored with one out when Kristian Campbell grounded a single up the middle to double the WooSox lead to 2-0. After a sacrifice bunt by Tsung-Che Cheng, Vinny Capra drove in Campbell from second base with a single to center field to make it 3-0 WooSox.

Former WooSox first baseman Ryan Noda got Norfolk on the board in the bottom of the 5th with a leadoff homer off Holobetz to cut the Worcester lead to 3-1.

With the score still 3-1 the Tides mounted a major threat in the bottom of the 8th inning putting the first two runners on and loading the bases with two outs, but Tommy Kahnle struck out Barrero to strand three Tides and preserve the WooSox two-run advantage.

Kahnle then worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th to seal the win for Worcester.

Holobetz (1-0) pounded the strike zone to pick up the win in his first WooSox start, allowing just one run on four hits over 5.2 innings with no walks and six strikeouts. Of his 71 pitches, he threw 55 for strikes including the first 15 of his night. German (5-5) was tagged with the loss for Norfolk allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits over 5.0 innings. Kahnle got the final four outs for his 6th save of the season.

With back-to-back wins in hand, the WooSox will aim to make it three in a row in game four of six at Harbor Park on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm. The WooSox have not yet announced their starting pitcher for Friday’s contest, while Norfolk sends right-hander Trey Gibson (2-5, 3.52) to the mound to make his 12th start of the season. Radio pregame coverage begins at 6:15 pm on the WooSox Radio Network.