WooSox rally late, edge Buffalo on wild walk-off win

Held to one hit through eight innings, the WooSox still found a way to steal the opener of a six-game set, turning a sleepy night into a 3-2 walk-off win over Buffalo with a two-run ninth at Polar Park.

Worcester had not threatened much before the final frame, but the inning opened with Anthony Seigler reaching on a gift double when Buffalo right fielder RJ Schreck lost a fly ball in the evening sky. Kristian Campbell moved Seigler to third, and Mikey Romero brought the park to life with an RBI triple into the left-center field gap to tie it. Two outs later, Tsung-Che Cheng, running for Romero, crossed the plate when CJ Van Eyk spiked a wild pitch with two strikes, finishing the comeback and sending Worcester away with its third walk-off win of the season.

The finish fit the way Worcester has been winning close games lately. The WooSox improved to 29-27 while Buffalo fell to 27-31, and this was Worcester’s 11th comeback victory and eighth last-at-bat win. It also came after a stretch that had seen the club play four one-run games in its previous five outings, going 3-1, after playing just eight one-run games through its first 50 contests. A night that looked headed for a quiet defeat instead became another entry in a season built on late pressure and narrow escapes.

Jake Bennett set up the rally by giving Worcester five shutout innings, allowing only one hit while walking three and striking out four. The 25-year-old left-hander, listed at 6-foot-6 and acquired from the Nationals last offseason, lowered his ERA to 1.60 and has now piled up 41 strikeouts against nine walks in 39.1 innings. Buffalo finally broke through for two runs in the sixth against Noah Song, whose outing ended his nine-inning scoreless streak over his previous seven relief appearances, but Zack Kelly and Kyle Keller held the line long enough for Worcester to reach the ninth.

Keller earned the win to move to 2-2, while Van Eyk took the loss after the two-out wild pitch. Worcester finished with only three hits but drew four walks, and Buffalo still lost despite a 5-3 edge in hits and an error that helped keep the ninth alive. The game lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes before 3,719 fans in cloudy 72-degree weather with a 7 mph wind from left to right, and the umpiring crew of Trevor Dannegger, Raul Moreno and Jared Duerson saw a finish that matched the mood of a club that keeps finding ways to hang around until the last pitch.