Eovaldi Goes 3+ in Rehab Start, WooSox Beat SWB 8-3

WORCESTER, M.A. — Nathan Eovaldi worked in to the fourth inning for the Worcester Red Sox (44-40) on Sunday afternoon, part of an 8-3 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (40-44) in the series finale at Polar Park.

Eovaldi got the start for the WooSox on rehab assignment, tossing 3+ innings with the following line: 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. The right-hander began his outing by striking out the first two men he faced, one on a splitter and one on a 95-mile-per-hour fastball.

His fastball reached 97 miles-per-hour, and the RailRiders recorded a blooper and infield single as two of their five hits. Eovaldi allowed a solo home run to Jake Bauers to lead off the second, a fastball that Bauers pulled over the Worcester Wall in right field. He exited after allowing a leadoff double to Phil Evans in the fourth.

2 strikeouts to start the day for Nate 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9soTRT0JNO

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) July 10, 2022

Offensively, the long ball accounted for the first seven runs of the ballgame.

Worcester jumped on top early thanks to a three-run shot by Ryan Fitzgerald, a 383-foot homer to right off SWB starter Ken Waldichuk. Fitzgerald now has 14 home runs on the season, and Sunday’s swing gave him his second of the year versus a left-hander.

After Bauers went deep off Eovaldi in the top of the second, the WooSox grabbed that run back in the bottom of the inning. Connor Wong worked a 1-1 count, then annihilated the next pitch he saw for a 429-foot home run off the scoreboard in left, a ball that left his bat at 108 miles-per-hour.

Wong notched his sixth home run, five of which have come since the start of June.

SWB scored one batter after Eovaldi’s departure, a two-run home run to left-center by Derek Dietrich off eventual winner A.J. Politi (2-0) to cut the Worcester lead to 4-3

Despite a couple of late threats, the RailRiders never evened the game thanks to a pair of late WooSox rallies. In the seventh, Ronaldo Hernandez smacked a two-out double, then scored one batter later after Jose Peraza dropped a pop up in left.

In the eighth, Devlin Granberg grounded a ball to third—the throw skipped to first, allowing Granberg to reach on an infield single while Yolmer Sanchez scored. Two batters later, Ronaldo Hernandez delivered a two-run knock through the right side to make it 8-3 and give the 24-year-old his seventh multi-RBI game of the season.

Frank German posted a scoreless ninth, sealing a Worcester win.

The WooSox are off Monday and begin a six-game series Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. on the road against the Norfolk Tides, affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. On the mound, Chris Murphy (1-0, 4.91) is the scheduled starter for Worcester. Radio coverage is live at 6:15 p.m. on 100 FM The Pike, 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.