Sox drop Rocks

Brandon Workman delivered his second straight quality start, Xander Bogaerts blasted a clutch two-out, two-run double, and the Red Sox held off the Blue Rocks in a 2-1 pitchers’ duel on Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium.

Both teams managed just five hits as offense was at a premium all night, but Workman teamed up with Andrew Jones and Ruben Flores to help Salem snap its two-game losing streak and stay above .500 at 13-11. The Red Sox will look to split the four-game series in Wilmington on Thursday.

Blue Rocks starter Tyler Sample was nearly unhittable, but his erratic control cost him dearly in the first. He walked Jackie Bradley, Jr. to start the game and handed Travis Shaw another free pass two batters later. With two outs, Bradley and Shaw successfully executed a double steal to advance to second and third. On a 3-2 pitch, Bogaerts laced a booming line drive into right-center to bring home both runners and lift Salem to an early 2-0 lead. The two-base hit extended Bogaerts’ consecutive games on base streak to 20, the longest in the league.

In the last of the second, Wilmington’s Brett Eibner launched a Workman offering over the left-field fence for a solo bomb, slicing Salem’s lead in half. But Workman dialed in after allowing the long ball, retiring the next 10 batters he faced and 13 of the final 14 he faced through the duration of his six-inning outing. Workman allowed  one run on three hits without walking anyone and striking out six. In his three starts, he possesses 14 strikeouts and just one walk.

Sample struck out nine over five innings, yielding just one hit, Bogaerts’ RBI double. But that hit made him the tough-luck loser, in large part because of four walks. Cole White and Chase Boruff held the Red Sox at bay down the stretch, but the Blue Rocks offense could not muster much against Sox relievers either.

Jones pitched around a pair of singles in his two scoreless-inning stint, while Flores tossed a perfect ninth to earn his second save. Workman improved to 2-0 for the Red Sox, surrendering just the solo homer and two other singles. In fact, after Eibner’s homer in the second inning, the Blue Rocks did not get a baserunner past first base over the final seven innings.

Salem will send Ryan Pressly to the mound on Thursday in the series finale, while Wilmington will counter with Jason Adam. First pitch from Frawley Stadium is scheduled for 6:35.