Dalbec Hits 515-Foot Homer, Walkoff Single As WooSox Top Lehigh Valley

WORCESTER, M.A. — Bobby Dalbec began the night with a record-setting home run in the first and closed it with a walkoff single in the tenth, giving the Worcester Red Sox (22-21) a 9-8 extra-inning win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (20-22) in front of 7,980 on Friday night at Polar Park.

After Lehigh Valley pushed across a run in the top of the tenth, the WooSox quickly loaded the bases on an infield single and intentional walk. A fielder’s choice brought Dalbec to the plate with the bases loaded and one out—in a 1-1 count, Dalbec delivered the game-winning swing, a two-run walkoff single to center, scoring David Hamilton and Niko Goodrum.

Dalbec finished the day reaching base five times, the last of which gave Worcester its 14^th come-from-behind win, its eighth victory in last at-bat and fourth-extra inning win.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the first, Dalbec came to the plate and delivered a history-making swing. In a 1-1 count, he obliterated a solo home run over the berm in left-center, a ball that landed well beyond the hill.

BOB IS THE HERO!!! WOOSOX WIN!!!! pic.twitter.com/d4jfNnvmR4

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) May 20, 2023

Dalbec finished the day reaching base five times, the last of which gave Worcester its 14^th come-from-behind win, its eighth victory in last at-bat and fourth-extra inning win.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the first, Dalbec came to the plate and delivered a history-making swing. In a 1-1 count, he obliterated a solo home run over the berm in left-center, a ball that landed well beyond the hill.

omg. Bobby Dalbec just hit this ball 515 feet. five hundred fifteen.

f i v e h u n d r e d f i f t e e n. pic.twitter.com/2ZoJkYNniz

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) May 19, 2023

The long ball registered as a 515-foot home run on in-ballpark Trackman, the longest home run in Worcester Red Sox and Polar Park history. In the Statcast era, the longest home run in MLB history came off the bat of Texas' Nomar Mazara, a 505-foot shot in 2019.

It was one of four home runs in the first two innings—Drew Ellis’ three-run shot in the first put the IronPigs up before Goodrum and Dalbec went deep, followed by a second-inning solo shot by Daniel Palka.

Goodrum notched his first homer from the right side of the plate this season, while Palka hit his fourth in the month of May.

After allowing the early shot to Ellis, WooSox starter Brandon Walter settled in, striking out a Triple-A career high nine over five innings of three-run ball.

The IronPigs retook the lead in the sixth on a sac-fly by Vito Friscia, but Worcester responded with a Goodrum RBI single to make it 4-4 after six. Then, in the seventh, Ellis blasted his second homer of the day, this time a two-run shot off Jake Faria.

The WooSox made it a one-run game on an eight-inning RBI single from Hamilton, but again, the IronPigs answered with a run-scoring fielder’s choice off the bat off Ellis.

Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, Worcester came up with another late rally. Dalbec ripped a 110 mile-per-hour single to left and Ryan Fitzgerald doubled to put two in scoring position. Ronaldo Hernandez was next, and he delivered, grounding a game-tying two-run single up the middle.

That brought the two teams to extra innings for the second time this week, and on Friday night, the home team grabbed the victory. Kaleb Ort earned the win after allowing only the automatic runner to score in the top of the inning.

The WooSox continue the homestand on Saturday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. On the mound, Chris Murphy (1-1, 7.76) gets the start for Worcester. Television coverage is live on NESN, while radio coverage is live at 3:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.