Allan Castro’s drive kept carrying toward the right-center-field alley, all the way to the base of the wall, while three Worcester runners raced home. By the time the ball returned to the infield, Castro stood at second with a bases-clearing double and a place in the WooSox record book.
The seventh-inning blow gave Castro seven RBIs, tying the franchise record and adding the defining flourish to a 16-1 rout of the Durham Bulls at Polar Park. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles, driving an offense that scored 12 times in the first three innings and finished with 15 hits.
Castro started the barrage in the first. After Braiden Ward reached on a soft ground-ball single, Castro lined a ball into left-center and hustled into second as Ward scored. Mikey Romero later walked, and Nathan Hickey launched his eighth home run beyond the Worcester Wall in right, turning the inning into a four-run opening statement.
There was no respite for Durham starter Marcus Johnson. Worcester added three runs in the second on Franklin Arias’ RBI single, Castro’s sacrifice fly and Romy Gonzalez’s run-scoring double. Johnson ultimately was charged with 11 earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
The WooSox made the rout unmistakable in the third. Nate Baez and Tsung-Che Cheng singled, Max Ferguson walked, and Ward slapped a sharp two-run single to right. Arias brought home another run with a groundout before Durham turned to John Rooney.
Castro greeted the change with the hardest punctuation of the early innings. His high fly carried deep to left and struck off the video board for a two-run homer, his 15th of the season, completing a five-run inning and pushing Worcester ahead 12-0.
Ward was creating his own line in the record book alongside him. He went 5-for-5 with three RBIs and five runs, tying the WooSox record for runs in a game and becoming the first Worcester player to score five times in a game at Polar Park. His first four hits came in the first five innings, the last a first-pitch drive that sent Durham right fielder Jack Suwinski retreating to the wall before the ball cleared the first row of seats above it.
That fifth-inning homer made it 13-1 after Durham scratched out its only run on Carson Williams’ triple and Suwinski’s groundout.
The abundance of offense left Michael Sansone to pitch with room, but he scarcely needed it. Sansone held Durham to one hit and one run over six innings, striking out five without a walk to earn the win. He retired the first 12 Bulls he faced before Williams tripled in the fifth, then closed his outing by setting down five straight.
Castro supplied the final three runs in the seventh against Steven Wilson. Cheng walked, Ward collected his fifth hit and Juan Montero was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one out. Castro drove the ball through the right-center gap and off the wall, clearing the bases as Montero beat the throw home.
Worcester’s bullpen handled the rest. Devin Sweet, Angel Bastardo and Osvaldo Berrios combined for three scoreless innings, preserving a night that belonged to Castro, Ward and an offense that hit three home runs without committing an error.
The WooSox had put the game away early. Castro used his final swing to make it historic.