Jake Bennett pitched a really solid game, going into the sixth, keeping his ERA under 1 despite allowing his first earned run of the season, striking four out and allowing just two hits. But, that wasn’t the real story on Friday night against Columbus (Guardians AAA). Tsung-Che Cheng started his night with a triple, walk and a double and the following at-bats were not only pivotal in helping the WooSox winning, but resulted in the first cycle in WooSox team history. The 24-year-old infielder and former Pirate reached base five times, and Kristian Campbell’s patient approach at the plate (read that again), drawing three walks, was huge in what would have been a much closer game. (Edit: I’m sure Columbus committing five errors didn’t hurt things, either…)
Cheng actually had half of Worcester’s eight hits on the night, but it’s how early Cheng sprung into action and that dagger of a home run that kept this game at bay following taking a 4-0 lead. Say what you will about the organizational depth,but history has been made!
Here are Cheng’s hits for reference:
Franklin Arias added 3 more hits including a double to continue hitting over .500 on the young season. The double advancing a prior walk by Abhram Liendo was a set-up for catcher Nate Baez to deliver an early insurmountable gap for New Hampshire (Blue Jays AA) to come back from. Erik Rivera settled New Hampshire down defensively in his nine-out save. Following some defensive struggles, this was probably the best the pitching staff and defense collectively looked on the season besides last week’s 1-0 win, but last night, the Sea Dogs had the offense to back it up, even if it was early in the night.
Three hits wasn’t going to get it done against the Spartanburgers (Rangers High-A) on Friday; Hub City walked it off in the bottom of the ninth. It wasn’t due to Kyson Witherspoon and Ben Hansen’s lack of effort; the two put up a strong night on the mound. Witherspoon struck out six but couldn’t get past the fourth inning, and Hansen allowed just a walk to reach the basepaths between the fifth and seventh. It’s tough to pull a win out, though, with no hits with runners in scoring position. The bottom of the eighth was the Drive’s only big chance to pull this one out… but two grounders with men on second and third (the first of which scored just one with bases loaded) put an end to that.
Last year’s 12th round draft pick and former Kentucky Wildcat Ethan Walker had a sensational outing in relief, going 4 and a third and striking out nine while allowing just one hit. Wow! His performance being sandwiched by iffy pitching gave Salem the chance to pull ahead with a Skylar King solo shot in the fifth, and add some more cushion on with a Starlyn Nunez double to score two. It wasn’t a pretty win at the plate, but it was certainly more than what Walker allowed.
Have a refreshing Saturday!
