Duran, Refsnyder Homer in 6-2 Loss to RailRiders

WORCESTER, M.A. — The Worcester Red Sox (19-23) dropped the series finale against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (15-26) on Sunday afternoon, a 6-2 defeat at Polar Park.

Four pitches in to the bottom of the first, Jarren Duran put the WooSox on top with a bang—Duran smashed a 1-2 offering deep to right center for a solo home run. The ball travelled 473 feet, the longest shot of the year on the fourth homer of the season for the 25-year-old.

Duran welcomes Waldichuk to Triple-A 💥 pic.twitter.com/zT7Afn8tCN

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) May 22, 2022

That was the first and only mistake made by SWB starter Ken Waldichuk, who went 5.1 innings and allowed that one run, striking out nine his Triple-A debut.

WooSox starter Josh Winckowski finished the day allowing five earned runs in six innings, a line that was not remotely indicative of the quality of his outing. The right-hander allowed one run over his first six full innings, the lone mistake a 358-foot homer by David Freitas that slipped over the short porch in right. Through six, Winckowski struck out six and allowed three total hits in that span.

He came out for the seventh, then allowed a leadoff single to Greg Bird, hit Philip Evans on a pitch that nearly struck the bat and gave up a bloop single to Derek Dietrich that barely touched down in right. Jose Peraza was next, and he hit a hard grounder down the left field line—the ball banged off the wall in foul territory, and by the time it was retrieved, the bases cleared.

That was the final pitch of the day allowed by Winckowski, and against WooSox reliever A.J. Politi, SWB proceeded to get four more baserunners, including RBI singles by Freitas and Miguel Andujar to cap off a five-run frame.

After Politi, Zack Kelly and Silvino Bracho delivered scoreless eighth and ninth innings out of the bullpen, respectively.

In the ninth, Rob Refsnyder brought the crowd of 8,493—the thirteenth sellout of the season—to its feet with a solo shot to the berm. Worcester also loaded the bases in to put the tying run in the batter’s box, but SWB reliever Greg Weissert got a strikeout of pinch-hitting Roberto Ramos to finish the ballgame. Despite the defeat, the WooSox win the series 4-2.

The WooSox are off Monday and begin a road series on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. On the mound, Brayan Bello, who tossed six innings of two-run ball in his Triple-A debut last Wednesday, faces Bailey Falter. Radio coverage is live at 6:45 p.m. on 100.1 FM The Pike, 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.