SWB RAILRIDERS: Worcester rallies to take series finale

MOOSIC — It was a play Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan had never seen before.

Worcester turned a double-steal attempt in the bottom of the fifth inning into a double play. The Red Sox then scored seven unanswered runs to rally for a 7-4 victory Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 3,023 at PNC Field, earning a split of the weeklong six-game series.

The RailRiders (25-29) bullpen was unable to hold the lead, spoiling a strong start by Sean Boyle. They managed only five hits, three by Bryan De La Cruz, and none in the final 3.1 innings.

Still, it was the double play in the bottom of the fifth that changed the game’s momentum.

“That was the one play right there,” Duncan said. “I’ve never seen it happen. That was the first time.”

Leading, 4-0, Jesus Rodriguez led off with a double and Everson Pereira followed with an infield single to put runners at the corners. The RailRiders attempted a double steal, but Pereira was thrown out at second. Worcester shortstop Tyler McDonough then threw to catcher Yasmani Grandal to nab Rodriguez attempting to steal home for a double play.

Worcester responded in the top of the sixth, finally breaking through against Boyle.

Singles by Karson Simas and Roman Anthony, the top prospect in minor league baseball according to MLB Pipeline, and a walk to Romy Gonzalez, who is on a major league rehab assignment, loaded the bases. Jhostynxon Garcia hit a two-run single to score Simas and Anthony. One out later, Ryan Noda hit a sacrifice fly to right field that brought home Gonzalez and make it 4-3.

Eric Reyzelman relieved Boyle and threw three pitches to strike out Trayce Thompson and end the inning.

Boyle allowed three runs on five hits in 5.2 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

“That three-run inning they put on us was a lot of ground balls finding holes,” Duncan said. “Sean pitched an amazing game today.”

The righthander pitched the series opener against Worcester on Tuesday and gave up two home runs to the first three batters. He still got the win, allowing five runs on five hits in five innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

“My slider wasn’t where I wanted it to be in that first game Tuesday,” Boyle said. “This week, we realized I don’t need to do more prep. I just need to be more specific about how we’re going to attack guys and how we’re going to try to finish batters. We came up with a really simple approach to do that and I think that really helped. Even when it got crazy in the sixth inning, I felt confident that we were going to stick with what was working there, because it worked for five innings. Just because there was traffic I wasn’t going to go crazy and try to reinvent something.

“We did a good job making an adjustment on my slider this week. I thought I did a good job bringing that into the game today. It led to some of those weak outs quick in the count versus maybe a foul ball or a hard hit in play. Staying over the rubber and feeling that pitch come off the fingers good was a huge difference. Cruised for a few innings there.”

However, Scott Effross came out of the RailRiders bullpen in the top of the seventh and issued a leadoff walk to Grandal. McDonough then golfed an 0-2 pitch out to right field that carried out for a two-run home run, giving the Woo Sox a 5-4 lead.

“Scotty’s been working and making huge adjustments. But it just didn’t go his way today,” Boyle said. “But that doesn’t mean he didn’t look like the Scotty we all know that goes out there and shoves. They hit the two-run homer, then he gets the next three outs like he does. He was throwing the ball like he does. It just didn’t go his way and that’s a tough pill to swallow.”

In the top of the eighth, Leonardo Pestana relieved and Garcia greeted him by hitting his second pitch out to left field for a home run that extended the Woo Sox lead to 6-4. With two outs, Trayce Thompson and Grandal worked consecutive walks and McDonough had a RBI single to make it 7-4.

Isaiah Campbell, the sixth pitcher used by Worcester, threw two perfect innings to notch his fifth save.

The RailRiders did all their scoring in the bottom of the third.

With one out, Jake Gatewood was hit by a pitch. Rodriguez and Pereira drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Worcester starter Jose De Leon was relieved by Wyatt Mills and T.J, Rumfield hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Gatewood. De La Cruz then crushed Mills’ first pitch to him onto the walkway above the Worcester bullpen in left-center field for a three-run home run.

“It was a sinker that he threw me inside,” De La Cruz said. “I just waited for that pitch and that was the result.”

Prior to the game, the RailRiders announced that righthanded pitcher Jake Woodford was released from his minor-league contract by the Yankees. Also, righthander Carlos Carrasco was brought up by the Yankees and righty Yerry De Los Santos was optioned to the RailRiders.

On Tuesday, the RailRiders begin a six-game series on the road against the St. Paul Saints, top affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. The first four games are scheduled to start at 8:07 p.m., while Saturday is a 7:37 p.m. start and Sunday is a 3:07 p.m. start.