Sogard, Offense Lead WooSox to Third Straight Victory
June 8, 2024 - International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release
WORCESTER, MA -- Nick Sogard (2-for-5, 3R-HR) stays red-hot as the Worcester Red Sox (29-33) won their third straight against the Rochester Red Wings (31-29) by a final score of 8-2 on Saturday afternoon at Polar Park.
After scoring 20 runs in the past two games, the WooSox added more fire power to the lineup. Before the game, the Red Sox announced that OF Masataka Yoshida would begin a rehab assignment with Worcester after being on the Injured List with a left thumb strain since April 29. On Saturday, the Japanese phenom batted second and was the designated hitter. He would end the day 1-for-3 with a run scored.
To begin the ballgame, Chase Meidroth led off the bottom of the first with a walk and advanced to third on Yoshida's base knock to right. Nick Sogard followed with a three-run blast to right-center field--his ninth long ball of the season and second of the homestand. The WooSox would add one more run in the inning to give the them a 4-0 lead over Rochester.
Sogard would finish the day with his third multi-hit game this series, adding to his 25-game on-base streak. Since the streak began on May 8, the 26-year-old has raised his OPS from.633 to.872--an enormous 38% increase. Meidroth, Sogard's fellow infielder, also added to his on-base streak on Saturday, reaching 23 straight games.
In the second inning, the offense showed no signs of slowing down as Nick Yorke laced his first Triple-A home run that snuck over the wall in left, giving the WooSox a 5-0 lead. After hitting four home runs in 175 at-bats with Double-A Portland, it took Yorke just 14 at-bats to record his first with Worcester.
Up five runs, the bats weren't done scoring.
Following a scoreless third, the WooSox loaded the bases with two outs for Mark Contreras. The 29-year-old outfielder proceeded to line his tenth double of the season over the head of Red Wings' centerfielder Alex Call to clear the bases. At the end of four innings, Worcester held a commanding eight-run advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Niko Kavadas nearly added to the lead by blasting a ball to center, but Call got his revenge and brought the ball back for a 407-foot fly out. Though the offense did not score for the rest of the ballgame, eight runs would be plenty for starting pitcher Jason Alexander.
The veteran right-hander tossed six shutout innings against the Red Wings, throwing just 80 pitches on the day with 53 going for strikes. The WooSox starter's final line was 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K.
Brian Van Belle entered in relief of Alexander to begin the seventh, and was given stellar defense to begin his outing. After homering earlier in the game, Yorke showcased his five-tool talent by ranging to his right to knock down a hard-hit ball before firing it from a knee over to first for the first out of the inning. However, the Red Wings pushed two runs across in the eighth to make it an 8-2 ballgame.
Jorge Benitez entered for the WooSox to begin the ninth and retired the Red Wings one-two-three to end the game. With the victory, Worcester has won their third straight against Rochester and is averaging 7.6 runs per game during the series.
Worcester and Rochester will wrap up their six-game set at Polar Park on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Richard Fitts (4-1, 3.72) will get the ball for the WooSox and face Spenser Watkins (2-2. 4.83) for the Red Wings. Television coverage will be on NESN+ and radio coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.
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