Worcester Cracks Three Homers in Loss to Red Wings

WORCESTER, M.A. — The Worcester Red Sox (15-10) opened Polar Park to full capacity with a record crowd of 6,422 and nearly staged a late comeback in a 6-4 loss to the Rochester Red Wings (7-18) on Tuesday night.

After Rochester went up 5-1 on a Carter Kieboom grand slam, the WooSox homered their way back in to the game with three solo shots. Marcus Wilson went yard in the fourth, Josh Ockimey blasted a homer in the sixth and Chris Herrmann rocked one in the seventh, but the Red Wings held on to win by two runs in the series opener.

Rochester opened the scoring in the third inning, a threat that started with a one-out walk from Cody Wilson. With Rafael Bautista in the box, Wilson stole second and came home on an RBI double down the right field line by Bautista to put the Red Wings on top 1-0.

Marcus Wilson was the one-man answer in the fourth for the WooSox, blasting a solo shot above the short wall in right center to tie the game. Wilson celebrated his fourth homer, and his third at Polar Park, by putting a hand to his ear, calling for more noise from the first fully open in Worcester.

The game was tied 1-1 entering the sixth inning before Rochester took its biggest lead. The number nine hitter, Cody Wilson, walked—Bautista attempted to bunt him over, but reached on an infield single after a defensive misplay between first baseman Josh Ockimey and pitcher Kyle Hart. Luis Garcia followed that with a single of his own, and the bases were loaded with no one out for Kieboom.

The big right-hander saw two balls, then took the first strike of the at-bat inside the left field foul pole for a grand slam. Kieboom’s blast made it 5-1, marked the first grand slam by an opposing player at Polar Park and was ultimately the difference in a series opening win for the Red Wings.

Josh Ockimey came to the plate for the home team in the bottom of the sixth and crushed one over the 403-foot sign in center. That cut the deficit to 5-2 on Ockimey’s fourth home run of the season, and his second over his last four games. The WooSox proceeded to load the bases on reliever Alberto Baldonado, the pitcher who allowed the homer, chasing him from the game. Dakota Bacus came in, and Yairo Muñoz came through with a sac-fly to right center to bring home Michael Chavis—nearly a bigger swing if not for a diving grab by Wilson, the Rochester centerfielder.

Herrmann’s long ball was a liner that just got over the centerfield wall, which at that point gave Worcester five runs on five hits. But Rochester added an insurance run in the eighth on a Jake Noll sac-fly, the final run scored in a game that snapped Worcester’s four-game win streak.

The WooSox continue the six-game homestand Wednesday against the Rochester Red Wings at 6:35 p.m. Television coverage from Polar Park is on NESN+, while radio coverage starts live at 6:15 on 100 FM The Pike and the WooSox Radio Network. Rochester’s Sterling Sharp (0-0, 4.91), who spent 2020 with the Miami Marlins, faces Ryan Weber (1-1, 2.96), who has allowed just three earned runs over his last 12 innings of work.