Maeda the Man as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Stymies the WooSox, 5-1
IL Worcester Red Sox

Maeda the Man as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Stymies the WooSox, 5-1

Published on September 4, 2025 under International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


Worcester - The Worcester Red Sox fell to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 5-1 on Wednesday night at Polar Park as nine-year Major League veteran Kenta Maeda held the WooSox hitless for 7.2 innings before Nathan Hickey launched a solo HR over the Worcester Wall with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning to break up Maeda's no-hit bid. Hickey's blast was Worcester's (67-66) only hit of the game as the 1st-place RailRiders (79-52) won for the second night in a row and improved to a perfect 5-0 in Worcester this season.

Maeda allowed only two hard hit balls until Hickey's homer which came on his 100th pitch of the night. Hickey lined out to short (off Maeda's glove) in the 2nd inning and Mikey Romero lined out to left in the 6th. Maeda's final line - 7.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO on 100 pitches in upping his overall Triple-A record to 5-6 on the season.

The 37-year-old from Osaka, Japan has pitched in the big leagues with the Dodgers, Minnesota, and Detroit compiling a 68-56 record with a 4.20 ERA in 226 games. He began this season in the Tigers' bullpen, was released in May, signed with the Iowa Cubs (AAA-Chicago Cubs) a week later and made 12 starts for the I-Cubs before being released on August 2nd. Two days later he signed a Minor League contract with the Yankees and has been with the RailRiders since.

WooSox starter Jose De Leon began the game by striking out the first four RailRiders' batters in a row. However, De Leon (0-7) would be touched for two runs in the 2nd inning on three hits and two walks as Scranton/WB catcher Omar Martinez walked with the bases loaded and 3B Jorbit Vivas later had an RBI infield single. Scranton/WB doubled their lead with two more runs in the 5th-inning on back-to-back RBI singles by 2B Jose Rojas and DH Bryan De La Cruz. That closed the book on De Leon who went 4.2 innings allowing 5 hits and 4 runs with 4 walks and 7 strikeouts.

David Sandlin (1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R) and Chris Murphy (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 SO) did a nice job in relief for the WooSox while Isaac Coffey worked the final two innings allowing only a solo HR to De La Cruz (3-for-4, 2 RBI) with 4 strikeouts.

Game three of this 6-game set is Thursday at 6:05 pm at Polar Park. Lefty Shane Drohan (3-0, 1.78) gets the starting nod for the WooSox. Drohan struck out 9 Durham batters in 3.2 scoreless innings last Friday in his first start for the WooSox in nearly four months while battling forearm inflammation. He will face Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ace Allan Winans who is 11-0 with a 1.18 ERA this season while the RailRiders are a remarkable 18-0 in his 18 starts on the year. The game will be televised live on NESN and can be heard on NASH 98.9 FM and the rest of the WooSox Radio Network.

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International League Stories from September 4, 2025


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