WooSox beat Buffalo 5-3 to finish with fourth straight win

Worcester kept finding new ways to press its advantage over Buffalo, and the finale made the point loudly. The WooSox beat the Bisons 5-3 at Polar Park, finished with a fourth straight win and took five of six in the series in front of a sellout crowd of 7,629. With a 13-game road trip waiting and a return to Worcester not set until June 23, the sweep of momentum felt bigger than one night.

The tone was set almost immediately. Just seven pitches into the game, Worcester had its first three hitters on base as Braiden Ward ripped a ground-rule double, Vinny Capra singled and Nate Eaton drove in the opening run with a line drive single. Matt Thaiss later loaded the bases, and Matt Lloyd delivered the inning’s biggest swing with a two-run single that pushed the lead to 3-0 before Buffalo could settle in.

Buffalo answered with a Willie MacIver solo homer and a Carlos Mendoza RBI single in the second, but Ward kept the Bisons from flipping the game. He threw out the potential tying run at the plate, preserving the 3-2 edge and supplying one of the night’s defining defensive moments. Ward finished with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored, and his combination of range, speed and consistent production is starting to look like one of the more credible watch-list developments in the Boston system. His player profile later listed 24 stolen bases, a .401 on-base percentage and a .737 OPS.

Michael Sansone gave Worcester the kind of start that makes a series win hold together. Promoted from Double-A Portland before the outing, he worked five innings, allowed two runs and struck out five, steadying after the second inning and handing the game to a bullpen that finished cleanly. Osvaldo Berrios, Seth Martinez, Kyle Keller and Wyatt Olds combined for four scoreless innings, and Olds struck out the final two batters for his first save of the season.

The series itself suggested more than a hot week. MiLB’s wrapup noted Worcester turned 10 double plays, at least one in every game, and Buffalo scored just one unearned run across the six games. The opener also brought more than 3,000 school children from 27 towns to Polar Park for STEM Day, another reminder that the ballpark has become a major stage in Worcester as well as a winning one. The WooSox have already crossed a 500,000-ticket milestone, and this latest stretch added another layer to a club that is starting to look built for more than isolated bursts.