For most of Thursday night at Polar Park, Worcester’s first hit looked as if it might also be its last. Allan Castro had driven a sharp liner off the side wall in right field in the first inning, but the WooSox spent the next seven innings searching for another opening that never came.
Tomás Nido finally singled in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Worcester could go no further in a 2-0 loss to Durham that ended its three-game winning streak during the final series of the regular season.
The WooSox finished with two hits and wasted a 13-strikeout performance from their pitching staff. Durham needed only Jack Suwinski’s second-inning RBI double and Xavier Isaac’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly to make the lead hold up.
Castro supplied Worcester’s first chance with two outs in the opening inning. His liner stayed fair down the right-field line, struck the wall and rolled into the corner for his 16th double. Jake Woodford stranded him there by getting Romy Gonzalez to fly out, beginning a stretch in which Durham pitching retired 20 consecutive batters.
Worcester had one other early opening when Vinny Capra drew a walk in the second. Tyler McDonough followed with a ground ball that Oliver Dunn and Ben Williamson turned into an inning-ending double play.
Woodford took control from there, completing five scoreless innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Kodi Whitley followed with two hitless innings, and Cam Hill handled the final two to finish the shutout. Whitley and Hill did not issue a walk.
The quiet night at the plate came while Worcester remained in contention through the closing days of a season marked by players and staff members moving into new roles. Brendan Connolly, now a Red Sox assistant in player development after serving as Worcester’s first base and development coach, credited the group for handling that turnover.
“Yeah, I think things have gone about as smoothly as we could have hoped. It’s a real testament to the group that we had here.”
— Brendan Connolly, Red Sox Assistant In Player Development And Former Worcester First Base And Development Coach
Durham took the lead against Johan Oviedo in the second. Isaac opened the inning with a walk, and after Carson Williams struck out, Suwinski sent a liner into the right-center-field gap. Castro could not close the distance, the ball rolled to the wall and Isaac scored standing from first.
That was the only run charged to Oviedo, who struck out four and walked one over 2 1/3 innings.
John Holobetz kept Worcester within a run by striking out eight over 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed two walks and worked around Tre’ Morgan’s sixth-inning single, then departed with two runners aboard and two outs in the seventh. Tyler Samaniego ended that threat with a groundout.
The margin remained thin until the eighth. Caden Bodine singled off Samaniego and moved to third when Williamson drove an 0-2 pitch high off the wall in left for a double, missing a home run by only a few feet. Isaac followed with a fly ball to shallow left-center. McDonough made the catch coming in, but his throw carried up the third-base line as Bodine scored Durham’s insurance run.
Nido gave Worcester one last chance with one out in the ninth, lining a 1-2 pitch into center for the club’s first hit since Castro’s double. Nate Baez entered to run, but Hill retired Braiden Ward on a fly ball and Franklin Arias on a groundout.
The season’s closing stretch still carries a broader purpose for an organization preparing possible reinforcements for Boston. Connolly said readiness remains the mandate in Worcester, regardless of when an opportunity arrives.
“It’s always the next man up mentality. Whenever you get your opportunity, you want to help the team win.”
— Brendan Connolly, Red Sox Assistant In Player Development And Former Worcester First Base And Development Coach
On Thursday, Worcester’s pitchers kept that opportunity alive all night. Two hits left the offense unable to take it.