Castro erupts with two homers, WooSox clinch series, set club-best start

Allan Castro did more than pad a box score Sunday at Polar Park. The 22-year-old outfielder from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, delivered the kind of day that can alter a prospect’s standing in a hurry, hitting a two-run homer in the second inning and a first-pitch grand slam in the third to power Worcester past Columbus, 8-2.

The outburst gave Castro his first two-homer game as a Triple-A player and ran his season total to three home runs. It also raised the bigger question surrounding Worcester’s upper-minors depth: is this just one loud afternoon, or the point where Castro’s tools start showing up as real production the Red Sox can no longer treat casually? For a club watching its young hitters and arms climb toward Boston, a six-RBI game carries weight well beyond the final score.

Castro’s blast to open the scoring was already enough to change the tone, but the grand slam turned the afternoon into a rout and put Worcester ahead 6-0. Nate Eaton helped create traffic early, and the WooSox kept adding on behind a lineup that has been one of the International League’s early problems for opposing pitchers. Worcester has now hit three grand slams in its first 14 games, with Nick Sogard and Mickey Gasper supplying the other two.

Payton Tolle made sure the big innings stuck. The right-hander allowed three hits and one walk over five scoreless innings, struck out six and needed just 75 pitches to get through his work. Tolle moved to 2-0 and once again gave Worcester the kind of clean, efficient start that lets an offense attack without worrying about a bullpen drain. He had already thrown six innings with seven strikeouts in a 4-2 win at St. Paul on April 5, and the steadiness has become part of the story around his early Triple-A run.

The win closed a 4-2 series victory over Columbus and lifted Worcester to 10-4, the best start in club history. It also came one day after the WooSox were shut out 7-0 and one day after Tsung-Che Cheng hit the first cycle in franchise history, a quick response that underlined how much punch this team is carrying. Braiden Ward added two stolen bases and reached nine for the season, tying for the league lead, as Worcester moved alone atop the International League East and kept turning early-season milestones into something that looks increasingly sustainable.