Allan Castro watched his first home run carry beyond the left-field wall, an opposite-field drive that kept traveling until a three-run deficit was gone. Four innings later, Worcester needed him to erase another one. Castro answered with a harder, more decisive swing, driving a two-run homer toward center and giving the WooSox their first lead of the night.
Castro’s two home runs powered both Worcester comebacks in an 8-5 victory over the Durham Bulls on Wednesday at Polar Park. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk and four RBIs, raising his season home run total to 14.
The second blast was the one that decided it.
Worcester entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 5-3 before Tsung-Che Cheng and Braiden Ward opened the inning with singles against Steven Wilson. Franklin Arias sent Cheng home with a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to one and moving Ward to third.
Castro followed with a line drive that carried over the wall in center. His 14th homer scored Ward and turned Durham’s two-run advantage into a 6-5 Worcester lead.
The rally followed the same pattern Castro had established earlier: Durham built a cushion, Worcester put traffic in front of him, and Castro wiped it away with one swing.
The Bulls took a 1-0 lead against Blake Wehunt in the second when Jack Suwinski doubled and scored on Carson Williams’ single. Durham added two more in the third after Oliver Dunn and Homer Bush Jr. reached with singles. Xavier Isaac brought both home with a line drive to left, putting Worcester in a 3-0 hole.
Cheng began the response with a single in the bottom half, moved to second on Ward’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Arias’ ground-ball single through the middle. Castro came next. He drove Chris Clark’s offering the other way, sending left fielder Austin Slater back to the warning track and then the wall before the ball cleared it. What had looked like a comfortable Durham lead was suddenly a 3-3 game.
Durham went back ahead with a run in the fifth, then widened the margin in the sixth when Tatem Levins drove a Patrick Halligan pitch over the wall in right-center for his 12th home run. That made it 5-3 and forced Worcester to assemble another comeback.
The WooSox bullpen gave the offense time to do it. Seth Martinez struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh and earned the win. John Brebbia worked around Suwinski’s leadoff single for a scoreless eighth, and Sam McWilliams retired Durham in order in the ninth for his second save.
Worcester added breathing room in the eighth. Tyler McDonough singled and reached third when Max Ferguson’s fielder’s-choice grounder drew a throwing error. Nate Baez’s sacrifice fly scored McDonough, and Ward ripped a first-pitch single into center to bring Ferguson home. Ward was thrown out trying for second, but the final insurance run had already crossed.
Ward finished 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, an RBI and a run. Cheng went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice, while Arias drove in two runs and scored ahead of Castro’s first homer.
Wehunt allowed four earned runs over five innings, striking out three and walking two. Worcester’s bullpen surrendered only Levins’ homer across four innings and held Durham scoreless after Castro seized the lead.
The WooSox collected 10 hits without committing an error, but the night belonged to the two swings that kept changing its direction. Castro pulled Worcester even once and brought it all the way back the second time.