Sports stats



IL Worcester Red Sox

Downs Homers in Second Straight, WooSox Fall 5-3 to SWB

July 7, 2022 - International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


WORCESTER, M.A. - A seventh inning rally led the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (38-43) past the Worcester Red Sox (43-38) on Thursday night, a 5-3 final score at Polar Park.

For the second straight game, the WooSox jumped on top early. With Jeter Downs on second, Johan Mieses lifted a ball that bounced to the base of the Worcester Wall in right for an RBI double, plating the first run of the day. In 24 games, Mieses has 10 extra base hits-three doubles and seven home runs.

In his Polar Park debut, Worcester starter Chris Murphy went five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. The left-hander allowed all three runs in the fifth: an Esteval Florial RBI double, an Oswald Peraza bloop single and a ground-rule double down the left field line from Derek Dietrich.

Trailing 3-1, Jeter Downs led off the bottom of the fifth by working a 3-2 count. He smashed the next pitch he saw over the left field wall for a solo shot, his 15th of the season, tying him for the team lead with Christin Stewart.

Since returning from his MLB debut on June 22, Downs is 15-42 (.357) with four homers, seven extra-base-hits, nine walks and eight RBIs.

Mieses followed the home run with his second double of the night, this time to left. Three batters later, Connor Wong brought Mieses home with a single deep in the shortstop hole to knot the game up at three.

After striking out the side on Wednesday night, Josh Taylor took the mound in a rehab appearance for the seventh. SWB went single, walk, double, single and single, plating two runs on an Oswald Peraza knock to put the road team up 5-3.

Zack Kelly entered for Taylor and delivered 1.2 hitless frames, lowering his season ERA to 3.09. The right-hander has not allowed a run in 13 of his last 15 outings. Chase Shugart was next out of the pen, making his own Polar Park debut, and tossed a scoreless ninth.

Despite the loss, Worcester is 7-3 over its last 10 games. Forty of the team's 81 games have been decided by two runs or fewer.

The WooSox continue the six-game series Friday at 6:45 p.m. against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, affiliate of the New York Yankees. On the mound, Garrett Whitlock is expected to take the mound for a rehab appearance (right hip inflammation), per reports, facing Hayden Wesneski (3-7, 4.11). Radio coverage is live at 6:25 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network, while television coverage is on NESN+.

Check out the Worcester Red Sox Statistics

• Discuss this story on the International League message board...

International League Stories from July 7, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central