Sanchez Clubs Grand Slam, WooSox Comeback Effort Falls Short

WORCESTER, M.A. — Despite a late surge, the Worcester Red Sox (19-22) dropped a game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (14-26) for the first time this week, a 7-6 loss at Polar Park on Saturday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 8,844.

The WooSox trailed 6-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning and loaded the bases with one out for Yolmer Sanchez. SWB went to the bullpen, bringing left-hander Trevor Lane in to the ballgame to face the switch-hitter. Batting right, Sanchez worked the count to 2-2, then jumped all over the fifth pitch, lifting it to the berm in left for a grand slam. That swing cut the deficit to 6-4 and gave Worcester its second grand slam of the season.

Brand new ballgame 🙌 https://t.co/bWegx2HsAs pic.twitter.com/R69rO0qh2f

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) May 21, 2022

An inning later, the WooSox loaded the bases up once again on a walk and a pair of singles. Ronaldo Hernandez stepped up with one out and on the first swing he took, contacted Max McDowell’s hand for catcher’s interference, scoring Jaylin Davis. McDowell exited with an injury, and after a delay, reliever Shelby Miller struck out Sanchez. That brought Jarren Duran to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded—he got the count to 3-2, then took ball four for a game-tying walk.

Miller got the final out of the eighth to keep it a 6-6 game, and the RailRiders started the ninth with a one-out double from former PawSox Ryan LaMarre against Durbin Feltman. After Feltman got a groundout, Estevan Florial blooped a go-ahead RBI single just in front of a sliding Duran in center, putting the road team on top 7-6.

The WooSox put the tying run in scoring position in the ninth, but did not come through with their second ninth-inning comeback of the week, as SWB held on for its first win of the series.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre built an early lead, putting up two-run frames in the second, fourth and fifth. Working against WooSox starter Brian Keller, the RailRiders began the second with a double and a single. Max McDowell came up next and smashed the first pitch he saw down the left field line for an RBI double to put the road team up 1-0. After a strikeout, Armando Alvarez cracked ball to the track in center that was reeled in by Jarren Duran, a sac-fly that extended the lead to 2-0.

Alvarez came to the plate in the fourth with a man on and crushed a two-run homer off Geoff Hartlieb, doubling the Scranton-Wilkes/Barre advantage. The long ball was a no-doubter, a 409-foot blast to the berm in left. Two innings later, Greg Bird followed suit with a two-run shot of his own against Hartlieb, a ball that banged off the wall above the FLEXcon landing in right centerfield.

The benches cleared after the top of the sixth inning after SWB’s Armando Alvarez and Worcester reliever Eduard Bazardo exchanged words on the way off the field. Alvarez and Bazardo were ejected following the scuffle.

Half an inning later, the WooSox began their comeback, as the teams combined for seven runs over the final three innings, six of which came from Worcester.

The WooSox conclude the series at Polar Park on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. against the Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders, affiliate of the New York Yankees. On the mound, Josh Winckowski (1-0, 2.10) faces Yankees top pitching prospect Ken Waldichuk, making his Triple-A debut. Television coverage is on NESN+ tape delay, while radio coverage is live at 12:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.