Worcester Red Sox fall to Buffalo Bisons despite late rally Thursday

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Worcester Red Sox (17-19) rallied late with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, but the Buffalo Bisons (21-15) held on, 6-4, Thursday night at Sahlen Field .

After being limited to three singles over the first seven innings, the WooSox offense came alive with four straight hits in the eighth. With Worcester leading 6-1, Jamie Westbrook rolled a Brendon Little cutter to the shortstop hole and hit an infield single off a strong throw from Leo Jimenez.

The next batter was Niko Kavadas, who delivered Worcester’s first extra base hit of the night with a booming double into the gap in right center. Westbrook went to third and scored when Dalton Guthrie singled over the glove of second baseman Orelvis Martinez to make it 6-2.

Kavadas came third on the piece and Mark Kolozsvary (CHARCOAL-vary) brought him in with a base hit that deflected off Little’s glove before racing into center field. Chase Meidroth scored Worcester’s fourth run of the night with an RBI groundout, but Buffalo’s pitchers retired the final four batters of the night to close out their third win of the week.

The WooSox entered the day with just 21 errors, which was second-most in Triple-A. But a season-high four defensive errors sparked an early attack for Buffalo’s top-ranked team, including three unearned runs in the second inning.

A mishandled low throw from the shortstop to first base gave the Bisons one more out in the second, and Buffalo took full advantage with a two-run double from Steward Berroa and an RBI double from Spencer Horwitz. Berroa also hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, which increased the lead to 5-1 and proved to be the winning run.

Worcester looked set for a big night at the plate when the first three batters got a hit by pitch and back-to-back walks from Andrew Bash, but it limited the damage to an RBI groundout from Nathan Hickey.

Jason Alexander (L, 1-3) went four innings and allowed two earned runs (as well as three unearned runs) on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Lucas Lütge (LIT key) pitched two shutout innings of one hit with three strikeouts, and Luis Guerrero was one pitch away from two scoreless frames until a wild pitch brought in a run in the eighth.

Luis Quinones (W, 5-0) was the first Bison out of the bullpen and held Worcester to one hit and two walks in two solid innings. Buffalo pitchers walked seven batters, but allowed only one to score.

The WooSox and Bisons continue the series Friday night, with first pitch scheduled in Buffalo at 6:05 p.m. Worcester will need to win each of the final three games at Sahlen Field to return home with a victory in seven games.