Tsung-Che Cheng hits Worcester's first Triple-A cycle in comeback win

Tsung-Che Cheng did more than make WooSox history on Friday night. The 24-year-old shortstop’s first Triple-A cycle gave Worcester its first 8-5 comeback win over Columbus, and it also gave Boston a clear reminder that its middle-infield depth has a real live-wire option if the major league club needs one.

Cheng’s cycle came in order: a second-inning triple, a third-inning walk, an RBI double in the fourth, a solo homer in the sixth, and the bunt single in the eighth that finished the job. That last play was as sharp as the rest of the performance. With Allan Castro on first and nobody out, Cheng dropped a bunt down the third-base line, the pitcher made the play, and the throw sailed past first base. The play was scored as a single with a two-base throwing error, Castro scored, and Cheng ended up at third with the cycle complete.

Worcester needed every bit of it. The WooSox played in front of 6,111 at Polar Park, and Jake Bennett steadied the night with 5.1 innings of one-run ball. Bennett allowed two hits, walked none and struck out four on 71 pitches, giving Worcester the kind of start that kept the game close enough for the late surge to matter. Columbus did get to the bullpen, with George Valera’s two-run homer off Kyle Keller among the biggest swings against Worcester, but the WooSox still finished the game with the kind of late offense that has been carrying them early.

The cycle carried real franchise weight. Cheng became the first WooSox player to hit for the cycle and the first Red Sox Triple-A player to do it since Henry Ramos did it for Pawtucket on July 4, 2016, in Charlotte. That is not a trivia note. It is a marker that Cheng produced a complete offensive game, one that blended contact, speed, gap power, pull-side impact and enough awareness to turn a bunt into history.

That matters for Boston because Cheng is the kind of middle infielder organizations keep close when the big league infield starts to thin out. He was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox from Washington on Feb. 6 after a winter of constant movement, and the skill set is obvious: he puts the ball in play, runs, defends multiple spots and already has enough power to change a game. If he gets a call, it will likely come as a versatile bench infielder or an injury fill-in who can handle shortstop and second base without the defense becoming a liability.

The one number Boston will still want to see sharpen is his damage against premium major league stuff, because the glove and the legs already travel. If Cheng keeps the contact quality high, his cycle night looked less like a one-off and more like a warning shot for a club that may need an in-house answer sooner than later.