Dalbec Homers Twice in Loss at SWB

MOOSIC, P.A. — An eighth inning rally gave the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (77-62) a 7-5 win over the Worcester Red Sox (70-69) on Saturday night at PNC Field.

After an Enmanuel Valdez sac-fly put the WooSox up 5-4 in the top of eighth, SWB began its half of the inning with a single from Ronald Guzman. The next batter, Josh Breaux, delivered a game-tying RBI double off the wall in left-center against Geoff Hartlieb.

After a hit-by-pitch, strikeout and lineout, Michael Beltre blooped a double to left to make it 6-5 RailRiders. Hartlieb exited, making way for Brett Kennedy in his WooSox debut—the right-hander walked two straight, including one with the bases loaded, to make it 7-5. By inning’s end, all nine SWB batters came to the plate, and six of the nine worked 3-2 counts.

The RailRiders held the WooSox scoreless in the top of the ninth, sealing a series victory for the home team.

Early on, Bobby Dalbec got the night start with a bang, smashing a no-doubt solo homer two batters in to the game. After the RailRiders tied it on a second-inning long ball by Guzman, Dalbec came to the plate in the third with a man on with two down.

He saw two pitches, then obliterated another ball to left, this time a go-ahead two-run homer to put the road team up 3-1. The swing gave Dalbec his first multi-homer game since July 27, a two-homer game with Boston.

SWB answered with three consecutive runs against WooSox starter Josh Winckowski. Rob Brantly came through with his second RBI of the series in the fourth, a single to drive in former PawSox Ryan LaMarre. One batter later, Armando Alvarez cut the Worcester lead to 4-3 with an RBI groundout.

Chris Owings tied the game at four in the fifth on a sac-fly to right, the final run allowed by Winckowski. The right-hander finished the night with the following line: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.

Sixty-nine of Worcester’s 139 games (42%) have been decided by two runs or fewer, and the team is 34-35 in those games.

The WooSox conclude the six-game series on the road Sunday at 1:05 p.m. against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, affiliate of the New York Yankees. On the mound, Bryan Mata (1-0, 3.46) faces Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-3, 4.54). Radio coverage is live at 12:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.