WooSox snap skid with clutch sixth-inning rally past Toledo

Jason Delay broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon at Polar Park, lifting the Worcester Red Sox to a 3-1 win over the Toledo Mud Hens. The rally snapped Worcester’s five-game losing streak, gave the club its first win of the second half, and salvaged the finale of a six-game series before 7,610 fans.

Worcester had already set the tone early when Vinny Capra launched a solo homer in the first inning. That swing extended the WooSox’s first-inning run total to 60 for the season, the highest of any inning for the club, and it also fit a recent pattern: Worcester had homered in the first trip through the order in three straight games.

The game settled into a tight pitcher’s duel after Toledo tied it in the second. Both clubs managed only four baserunners the rest of the way until Worcester finally broke through in the sixth. Braiden Ward and Capra opened the inning with singles, Mikey Romero moved both runners up with a groundout, and Delay delivered the decisive blow. The play was scored as a ground ball to right fielder Trei Cruz that was deflected by Toledo reliever Ricky Vanasco, allowing Ward and Capra to score.

Patrick Sandoval’s rehab outing, while he works back from Tommy John surgery, featured four innings, one run on three hits, one walk and three strikeouts on a season-high 60 pitches.

Jovani Moran worked two perfect innings to earn the win. Alec Gamboa held Toledo scoreless in the seventh and eighth, and Joe La Sorsa retired Toledo in the ninth before Mikey Romero helped turn the game-ending double play.

The victory left Worcester at 37-40 and prevented a rare six-game sweep. Toledo had won the first five games of the set, and Worcester had not faced a six-game losing streak since May 2024.