Five Worcester hurlers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Red Sox won a pitchers’ duel with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 1-0, on Thursday night at PNC Field in Moosic.
All Worcester could muster offensively were five hits, one of which was a first-inning home run by Anthony Seigler. But that was enough for the WooSox to take their third straight game in the six-game series.
Seigler hit a 1-1 pitch from RailRiders starter Carlos Lagrange out to right field with two outs in the top of the first.
Lagrange allowed consecutive two-out singles to Matt Lloyd and Max Ferguson and walked Braiden Ward leading off the third. But he retired the final 11 batters he faced and finished with six strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Carson Coleman allowed one hit and struck out two in 1.1 innings of relief. Peter Strzelecki worked a scoreless eighth with one strikeout. In the ninth, Kervin Castro walked Tsung-Che Cheng and Jason Delay followed with a double. But Cheng was thrown out at the plate on a relay from left fielder Kenedy Corona to shortstop George Lombard Jr. to catcher Ali Sanchez to keep it 1-0.
However, the RailRiders (26-26) could not get their offense going. Ernesto Martinez Jr.’s one-out single in the fifth inning was their lone hit. Corona walked with one-out in the sixth. Jonathan Ornelas reached on an error with two outs in the eighth and Corona on an error leading off the ninth. But they were the lone baserunners. WooSox pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts.
Jack Anderson started for Worcester and fanned eight in 4.2 innings. Seth Martinez went 1.1 innings, before Kyle Keller, Wyatt Olds and Tommy Kahnle each worked one inning of relief. Kahnle, the former Yankee, earned his fourth save.
On Friday at 7:05 p.m., the series continues at PNC Field. Elmer Rodriguez (1-3, 2.48), the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect, starts for the RailRiders against Worcester lefthander Michael Sansone (1-3, 5.57).