IL Worcester Red Sox

Valdez Homers Twice, Hits Grand Slam as WooSox Sweep Twin Bill

Published on June 17, 2023 under International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


NORFOLK, V.A. - The Worcester Red Sox (34-34) swept a road doubleheader over the International League-leading Norfolk Tides (45-23), taking game one 8-6 and game two 5-2 on Saturday at Harbor Park. The WooSox have now won seven of their last nine.

Game one came down to the final inning, as Worcester came up in the seventh and final scheduled inning in a 5-5 game. With one out, Enmanuel Valdez delivered a massive swing, smashing a go-ahead solo home run off the batter's eye in center.

Two batters later, Ronaldo Hernandez joined the home run party with an opposite-field two-run shot, extending the WooSox' lead to 8-5.

Norfolk's Heston Kjerstad would hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, but Ryan Sherriff got the final three outs to cinch an 8-6 Worcester victory.

The WooSox scored the first five runs of the day, plating runs on a two-run single by Narciso Crook in the second, a Ryan Fitzgerald RBI double in the third, an RBI single from Nick Sogard and a Bobby Dalbec fifth-inning homer.

Dalbec's homer marked his 17th of the season and his eighth in his last 20 games.

Worcester starter Rio Gomez went a career-long five innings, striking out a Triple-A career-high eight and allowing two earned runs. Both runs came in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Colton Cowser and a Connor Norby RBI double.

Gomez exited, and the Tides promptly rallied for three in the sixth, all charged to Theo Denlinger (one earned). Robbie Glendinning's two-run double off the wall in center made it 5-4, and after Worcester went to Oddanier Mosqueda out of the bullpen, a soft infield single by Cowser brought home Glendinning.

That set up a 5-5 game in the seventh, where the WooSox rallied for three runs on two long balls.

In game two, Cowser got it started with a bang, smashing a solo homer off Brandon Walter to lead off the bottom of the first inning.

Walter settled in from there, posting the following line: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, allowing a fourth-inning solo homer to Lewin Diaz. Over his last two starts, the left-hander has given up just three earned runs in 10.1 innings of work, striking out 13 in that span.

Offensively, Valdez again had the moment of the game in the nightcap-he stepped up with the bases loaded and launched a grand slam to right, the second four-run blast of the season for Worcester.

In seven games since being optioned to Triple-A, Valdez has four homers with eight RBI.

In his third Triple-A outing, Brendan Nail (2-0) delivered a scoreless outing for the second time this week, and A.J. Politi did the same in the seventh to finish off the twin bill. Including Saturday, Worcester is now 4-2-2 in doubleheaders; in their last four doubleheaders, the WooSox are 7-1 with three sweeps.

The WooSox conclude the six-game road series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. against the Norfolk Tides, affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. On the mound, Jake Faria (2-2, 6.21) faces Bruce Zimmermann (3-3, 3.40). Radio coverage is live at 12:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network.

Check out the Worcester Red Sox Statistics

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International League Stories from June 17, 2023


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