Manoah strikes out 10 more as Herd tops WooSox, 4-1

The Worcester Red Sox batters got their second chance to face the Bisons’ Alek Manoah this season after being shut out by the righty over six innings on May 6. But scoring did not come much easier Wednesday as the Herd hurler put together another spectacular performance to beat the WooSox 4-1.

After striking out 12 and earning a win in his first matchup with the Red Sox in early May, the 6’6” Manoah struck out 10 more, walked one and gave up just four hits and one run to earn his third win of the season.

Recently added to Baseball America’s top 100 prospects as prospect #93, Manoah pitched with confidence. He used a combination of a fastball, consistently in the 93-96mph range, and an unhittable slider diving off the plate to dominant Red Sox hitters

Manoah gave up his first run ever at the Triple-A level on a home run to centerfield to Chris Herrmann in the second inning. That would be all the Red Sox could scrape across for game.

Over his final four innings of work following the home run, Manoah cruised, striking out six and retiring 12 of the remaining 15 batters he faced.

The Red Sox’s lefty starter Stephen Gonsalves went opposite Manoah and was sharp as well using a mix of off-speed pitches, a changeup and a curveball, to complement his fastball.

The Bisons grabbed their first lead of the series on a two-run home run from Juan Graterol in the second inning. After striking out the first two batters of the inning Gonsalves left a fastball up and inside to Graterol. He punched it over the left-field wall with Logan Warmoth on base after drawing a walk.

Graterol was a tough out all night reaching base three times with a single and a walk-in addition to the home run.

Gonsalves began to lose command in the fourth walking two batters on with one out. He was bailed out on a flyout and assist to first base to get out of the inning.

The Bisons finally took advantage of the lack of command in the fifth swiping an insurance run on a slow-rolling RBI single away from the shift from Christian Colon to drive in Forrest Wall.

Gonsalves exited after five innings having given up two hits and three runs, walked four and struck out eight.

Cullen Large snapped out of a 0-13 slump with a leadoff double in the sixth. Riley Adams was able to drive Large home on a bloop single to extend the lead to 4-1 after Gonsalves exited for John Schreiber. Adams remained sharp in the series reaching base three times in the game and has reached five times in eight at-bats in the series.

The Bisons scored all four of their runs for the game with two outs in the inning.

Curtis Taylor, Kirby Snead and Hobie Harris took care of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings following Manoah to get the win. The trio combined to strike out five, walked one, allowed two hits and no runs.

Overall, the Bisons’ pitching was consistent, striking out 15 Red Sox batters in the game.

With the win, the Bisons snap the Red Sox’s five-game win streak and lead the season series 5-3. The Bisons are now 10-4 and are the second team in the Triple-A East division to double-digit wins, trailing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders by a game.

The Bisons will be back at it on Thursday night against the Red Sox for game three of six. The Bisons are expected to start righty Thomas Hatch, his first appearance for the Bisons, against the Red Sox’s lefty Kyle Hart. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.