Despite notching 10 hits, the Worcester Red Sox dropped Friday night’s matchup against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3-1, to even up the series at two games apiece.
In the top of the eight inning with two outs and Nate Eaton on third, Yasmani Grandal ripped a clutch single to right field to give the WooSox (27-27) a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
However, when Alex Hoppe took the mound, things started to fall apart for the WooSox defense.
Hoppe gave up back-to-back singles before walking first baseman T.J. Rumfield to load the bases. RailRiders designated hitter Alex Jackson stepped up to the plate and crushed a double to left field to clear the bases and give his team a 3-1 lead.
While the WooSox were able to escape the inning only giving up three runs, the offense failed to provide anything of substance in the ninth and the RailRiders left PNC Field with their 24th win of the season.
Despite the loss, starting pitcher Cooper Criswell had a solid outing on the mound. Criswell only allowed two hits and two walks while striking out six batters in his five innings of work.
The WooSox will look to get their revenge against the RailRiders in the penultimate game of the series tomorrow with first pitch set for 4:05 p.m.
