The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders could not hold a four-run lead, surrendering six unanswered to the Worcester Red Sox in a 6-4 loss on Monday. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak, which goes down as their longest of the season.
Estevan Florial wasted no time getting the RailRiders ahead. On the second pitch of the ballgame, Florial homered for his tenth of the year. Florial has homered five times in his last seven games. He had hit five home runs in all of May and June combined.
Ken Waldichuk made his second career start at Polar Park, the same yard he had made his Triple-A debut on May 22. Waldichuk lasted five-plus innings, striking out six batters while allowing just one run. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre backed the cause with three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Phillip Evans doubled home Oswald Peraza. Derek Dietrich plated a pair with a single.
With a 4-1 advantage, the game took a sharp turn in Worcester’s favor. After Evans threw out the tying run at the plate to nab Connor Wong, Ronaldo Hernández launched a three-run homer to left field. The Red Sox plated five runs in a nine-batter bottom of the eighth inning. The RailRiders, trailing 6-4, got a leadoff walk but ultimately fell silent in their ninth. It’s the team’s first lost since June 25.
Zack Kelly (4-1) earned the win. José Mujica (0-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up the homer. Kaleb Ort (15) tallied his third save of the year against SWB. The two teams will take Tuesday off before resuming the series on Wednesday night with RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-0, 3.60) on the mound at 6:45 PM. All the action can be heard on the RailRiders Radio Network.