The WooSox hit through the lineup in the bottom of the ninth. Was your rally cap securely on enough to head to Fenway with it this weekend?
It was a tough weekend, coming to grips with the figurative end of teh Red Sox’s playoff run, but it had to happen eventually. Still, unceremoniously falling to the Yankees was a gut punch for many, and worse still is that another thing that died was the ability to see a baseball game anywhere else in New England until next year, since Portland’s season is now over (as of today… more on that, but you won’t like how it ended) and Worcester’s last series is in Pennsylvania.
The Red Sox farm floundered over the weekend against the other New York team’s farm, but the likes of Chase Meidroth, Jamie Westbrook, Corey Rosier, Reese McGuire and Vaughn Grissom (you know, likely heroes as ever) played spoiler just when Worcester was about to be handed a third straight loss. Let’s get into it!
Worcester: W, 4-3 (BOX SCORE)
Polar Park’s final homestand of 2024 could not have finished any more magically. This game was not looking good for, well, most of the day Sunday. Quinn Priester faltered in the fourth inning, but the pitching staff held the Syracuse Mets (Mets AAA) to three runs despite walking seven in this contest. Brian Van Belle, the former Miami Hurricane who actually saw his ERA since August 1 go up to 1.63, held the line and struck out five while allowing just a run in 3 2⁄3 pivotal innings.
Yet, this game would come down to the final frame and Worcester came from a 3-0 deficit to secure a win. Not even Max Kranick could stop the bleeding for Syracuse, as Worcester hit almost entirely around the order off of Shintaru Fujinami (yes, that’s where the 2023 Athletics/Orioles enigma ended up!) starting with, fittingly, Vaughn Grissom’s second hit of the day. That fateful ninth inning featured three walks, including Chase Meidroth walking it off with his bat on his shoulder. This game did not see the WooSox get even one extra base hit, but with resilience such as that rally-cap-donning ninth inning, you don’t need one to capture the exhilaration.
After two games where the WooSox were outscored by a combined 30-3, they now put themselves right back in the conversation for a playoff spot with the presence and allure of three exciting prospects.
In the spirit of channeling the Red Sox, a quick quote on Saturday’s game from our own Mike Carlucci, who attended:
“(It) really did feel like Red Sox for less money. After a solid start the bullpen allowed 15 runs.”
Portland: L, 0-4 (BOX SCORE)
This is the alternate ending to that magical Triple-A game, where the Sea Dogs were held to three hits and shut-out against Binghamton (Mets AA). Portland’s playoff hopes were dissipated with the promotion of those aforementioned guys, and so they could not make anything out of eight innings of shutout ball by the pitching staff — Caleb Bolden and Rob Kwiatkowski — before the Rumble Ponies broke a 0-0 tie in the ninth inning. Offensively, Portland lacked zip, just as they have for much of September, aided only by some tact from Jhonstynxon Garcia and Blaze Jordan. The Sea Dogs finish their (successful by most accounts) season with a strong starting pitching that wasn’t backed up by their bullpen and especially not by their run support. Gee, where have I heard that before?
Have a happy Monday!