Casas Returns, Hickey & Gasper Homer in 11-6 Win Over Bisons

WORCESTER, M.A. — The Worcester Red Sox (13-15, 48-55) came back twice to beat the Buffalo Bisons (11-17, 48-54) on Tuesday night, an 11-6 series-opening win at Polar Park.

Triston Casas saw game action for the first time since April 20, beginning his rehab assignment by going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk as the designated hitter. Casas worked three 3-2 counts and saw 25 pitches on the night across his four plate appearances.

The WooSox were down 4-0 entering the bottom of the third, but Nathan Hickey put the home team on the board with a leadoff solo shot to right. The swing opened the offensive floodgates—after a pair of singles, Enmanuel Valdez laced a two-run single to cut the deficit to 4-3.

An inning later, Nick Sogard punched a two-out, two-run knock of his own to give Worcester its first lead. Sogard now has 54 RBI in 89 Triple-A games this season.

But by the end of the night, at least one run would be scored in each of the first eight offensive innings. Buffalo answered immediately in the fifth with a two-run home run from Damiano Palmegiani, their second and final lead of the game.

Trailing 6-5, Valdez promptly began the bottom of the fifth with a double to right. Mickey Gasper was next, and he mashed the first pitch he saw over the wall in right-center to hand the WooSox the advantage.

Since his promotion to Triple-A on June 6, Gasper leads the International League in batting average (.370), on-base percentage (.485) and has six home runs in 32 games.

Worcester would add insurance in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings—an RBI single from Grissom in the sixth, a two-run double from Mark Contreras in the seventh and a Gasper sac-fly, capping off a three RBI night for the catcher.

On the mound, Lucas Luetge tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Luetge now has a 3.02 ERA in 41.2 innings in Worcester and lowered his July ERA to 0.96 (1 ER in 9.1 IP).

The WooSox continue the six-game series at Polar Park on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. against the Buffalo Bisons, affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Television coverage is on NESN+, while radio coverage begins at 6:25 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon, 100.1 FM The Pike and the WooSox Radio Network.