Ballou on Baseball - June 9, 2026

Just when it seemed as though the turmoil in Boston was threatening to destroy a great start to the WooSox’ sixth season in town, things changed.

Worcester put together a memorable homestand versus the Buffalo Bisons and has won 9 of its last 12 games. The fact that the WooSox took five of six games at home was at the top of the list, but the way they did it made the week even more enjoyable. A lot happened along the way.

One of those “a lot” things had nothing to do with winning or losing. It was the arrival of Brayan Bello at Polar Park on Sunday morning. He showed up a little earlier than he had to and seemed to be in good spirits despite a disheartening previous couple of days.

Bello needs to hit his personal reset button. Or have it hit for him. That can be like needing an aching tooth removed — not a do-it-yourself thing. The timing is good, too, and probably not coincidental. Worcester is on the road for the next two weeks.

He can put some distance between himself and the noise.

Aside from that news, and it was major news, the WooSox put a lot of fans in the Polar Park stands and entertained them. They averaged 6,686 for the six games, their best homestand average of the year to date.

Worcester played some throwback baseball in going 5-1 and it was fun to watch. The WooSox hit only four homers in the six games, accounting for just five runs. They put the ball in play. They stole bases. They bunted and hit sacrifice flies. The WooSox created old-fashioned rallies.

They played splendid defense. Their infield turned 10 double plays, at least one in every game. Buffalo scored just one unearned run in the entire series. The WooSox played one of the most interesting innings of the season — maybe in all in six years at Polar Park — during Friday night’s 6-3 victory. And the WooSox beat future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to boot (Scherzer made an injury rehab start at Polar Park for the second straight June).

In the seventh inning Buffalo batting coach Matt Young (no, not THAT Matt Young) was thrown out by first base umpire Raul Moreno after a call went against the Bisons, then manager Casey Candaele was ejected by Moreno after a long, wonderful good-old-days argument on the infield dirt.

When play resumed, Braiden Ward made a spectacular catch at the center field fence to rob Jonatan Clase of extra bases.

Defense, pitching, rallies, arguments, big crowds — the WooSox may have had homestands as good as last week, but have never had a better one.

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CATCHING UP WITH…

The WooSox all-time home run leader, Bobby Dalbec, is with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. He is batting .249 with 9 home runs, 28 RBIs and 68 strikeouts in 53 games.

Ryan Fitzgerald is hitting .305 with 6 homers and 42 RBIs for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City of the Pacific Coast League.

Righty reliever Geoff Hartlieb is 2-0 with a 4.24 earned run average in 13 games for the Las Vegas Aviators in the Pacific Coast League. They are the Athletics Triple-A affiliate.

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Worcester does not return home until June 23 as it embarks on a rare two-week road trip. The WooSox play at Rochester, then Lehigh Valley. It is scheduled to be a 13-game trip, with a doubleheader in Rochester on Thursday.

Officially, the league considers one of those games a home game for Worcester. Yeah, sure it is.

The WooSox have had four previous two-week trips. The last one was in May, 2025 at Lehigh Valley and Buffalo. Worcester was 5-7 in those games. The WooSox would love to replicate their first ever two-week trip. That happened in 2021, late August and early September in Buffalo and Rochester.

Worcester went 11-1 in 12 games.

This looks like a tough trip. Rochester started the season with an 18-19 record but has gone 20-5 since then including a five-game sweep at Polar Park during which the Red Wings outscored Worcester, 42-18.

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Although he is no longer in Worcester, Chad Tracy is continuing to move up the rankings involving managers in the Boston organization. Between the big league Red Sox and Triple-A Worcester, Tracy has managed 656 games. That is seventh of eight on the list of men who have managed both in Boston and for its Triple-A teams. Butch Hobson is eighth at 582 games, Johnny Pesky seventh at 703. Joe Morgan leads with 1,822 games managed combined for Boston and Pawtucket. … Friday night was a memorable one for southpaw Raymond Burgos, who earned his first WooSox win after three losses. He did it by beating Max Scherzer, and threw 82 pitches in relief. The last Worcester reliever to get a win and throw that many pitches was Richard Fitts, also versus Buffalo, on May 11, 2004.

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TRIPLE-A TRIVIA

1. In what ballpark did the WooSox play in front of their largest crowd?

2. Which two Worcester Red Sox pitchers are tied for the team record by recording a win in each of their first three appearances in a WooSox uniform?

Answers below.

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The WooSox headed to upstate New York with a 14-game streak during which every game lasted less than three hours. … Worcester is 27-17 in games when Vinny Capra is in the starting lineup. … Tyler McDonough provided a jolt of energy after his promotion from Portland. His home run Saturday was his seventh in a Worcester uniform but first at Polar Park. … WooSox batters have combined to hit merely two 3-run home runs, and no grand slams, since April 7, a span of 55 games. Nate Eaton hit one on April 26 in a 6-2 triumph over Syracuse. Nick Sogard had the last on May 8 as the WooSox were 8-3 victory over Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. Both were hit at Polar Park. … Braiden Ward has been successful in 24 straight stolen base attempts. He was last thrown out on April 5. That has to be a WooSox record, at least until more research is done. One notable such streak was put together by Greg Allen, who was 15 for 15 while with Worcester early in the 2023 season.

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TRIVIA ANSWERS

Worcester lost to Buffalo, 4-1, before a crowd of 15,490 at Sahlen Field on June 11, 2022

Both Kyle Barraclough and Brayan Bello earned the win in each of their first three games pitched for Worcester. Bello did it in 2022, Barraclough in 2023.