Castellanos & Stewart Crack Homers in WooSox Loss

WORCESTER, M.A. — The Worcester Red Sox (36-35) lost for the first time this week to the Charlotte Knights (26-45), a 12-2 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Polar Park in front of 7,446.

Josh Taylor got the start for the WooSox, part of a Major League rehab appearance. The left-hander tossed one inning, allowing a pair of unearned runs on three hits with one strikeout. Taylor faced seven batters, tossing 20 pitches in the frame.

Neither team would score again until the sixth inning, when Charlotte tacked on three insurance runs. Prior to the top of the inning, Worcester manager Chad Tracy was ejected after arguing an automatic ball call from home plate umpire Taka Matsuda.

Brian Keller, who had gone four scoreless innings entering the sixth, allowed a walk and a double to start the frame. Worcester went to the bullpen for Geoff Hartlieb, who got a groundout for the first out. After an intentional walk, Hartlieb struck out Logan Glass with the bases loaded, but then walked Mark Payton and allowed a two-run single to Eloy Jimenez. That extended the Knights' lead to 5-0 on seven total hits through six.

Playing in his Triple-A debut, Pedro Castellanos came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the seventh, worked a 1-2 count, then took the fourth pitch he saw over the wall in left. Castellanos, who clubbed eight homers with Double-A Portland, crushed this one 400 feet to the berm for his first hit and home run with Worcester.

Welcome to Triple-A, Pedro! pic.twitter.com/uC8VwmRSQV

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) June 25, 2022

An inning later, Christin Stewart smacked a leadoff solo blast of his own, a 418-foot long ball that easily flew over the Worcester Wall in right. Stewart, who homered twice on Friday night, has four in the series and ties Ryan Fitzgerald for the team lead with his 13th.

Charlotte broke the game wide open in the top of the ninth inning with a seven spot. The Knights worked four walks against Phillips Valdez, then Blake Rutherford knocked a two-run single to right to make it 7-2. Durbin Feltman entered next and allowed an RBI single to Ryder Jones, followed by a Logan Glass three-run blast off the scoreboard in left to make it 12-2.

The WooSox conclude the six-game series at Polar Park on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. against the Charlotte Knights, affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. On the mound, Brayan Bello (4-2, 3.12) gets the start for Worcester, facing John Parke (2-6, 6.62). Radio coverage is live at 12:45 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network, while television coverage is on NESN+ tape delay.