Richard Fitts turned in a quality start and Jamie Westbrook provided the offense as the Worcester Red Sox (32-25)/(67-65) won 3-1 over the Rochester Red Wings (33-25)/(71-60) in the opener of their six-game series in Rochester, New York.
With the win, the WooSox move to a half-game behind the Red Wings for the lead in the International League East with three weeks remaining in the 2024 season.
Trevor Story continued his rehab assignment with Worcester on Monday, playing his first game at shortstop after serving as the designated hitter on Sunday. The 31-year-old finished the day 0-for-3 at the plate.
Through the first three innings, both offenses were held scoreless by starting pitchers Andrew Alvarez and Richard Fitts. Alvarez had to work around a baserunner in each inning but kept the WooSox off the board while Fitts went nine-up and nine-down, striking out three in the process.
In the fourth inning, Kristian Campbell picked up the third hit of the day for Worcester by smoking a one-out 106.6 mph single to center. Kyle Teel followed with a walk, which set up a double steal of second and third to put two in scoring position for Jamie Westbrook. Fresh off a 3-for-4 day that included a go-ahead grand slam, the WooSox third baseman drove in Campbell with a ground out to third. After a quiet bottom half for Rochester, the game moved to the fifth with Worcester ahead, 1-0.
Fitts was perfect through his first four innings on Labor Day, needing just 50 pitches to set down the first 12 batters of the game. But to begin the fifth, Brady House lined a middle-middle fastball to center, ending Fitts’ streak of outs to start the game. The WooSox right-hander would retire the next three Red Wings to strand House on first and take the game to the sixth.
For the second straight at-bat, Westbrook came to the plate with Campbell and Teel on base and one out in the sixth inning. This time, the 29-year-old drilled an RBI double over the head of Andrew Pinckney in left to give the WooSox a two-run advantage. It was Westbrook’s 24th two-bagger of the year, tying him with Eddy Alvarez for the team lead in the category.
In the Red Wings’ half of the sixth, Fitts saw some traffic on the basepaths but got Jake Alu to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the frame. The sixth was Fitts’ last inning on Labor Day––concluding another quality start for the right-hander. In five August starts, the Alabama native pitched to a 2.89 ERA in 28 innings while striking out 32. In his first September start, Fitts put together a final line of 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
First out of the bullpen for the WooSox was Wyatt Olds, who turned in two scoreless innings of relief on Labor Day. The 25-year-old walked one and allowed two hits while punching out four Red Wings in the seventh and eighth innings of the series opener.
In the top of the ninth, Westbrook added some insurance by blasting an opposite field solo shot to lead off the inning. It was his 11th home run of the year and second in as many days. With two hits on Monday, the Holyoke native now has three consecutive multi-hit efforts with five of his last seven knocks going for extra-bases.
Next out of the ‘pen for Worcester was Luis Guerrero––who carried a 12.1 scoreless streak into the last half of the ninth. Pinckney’s two-out RBI double would end the Guerrero’s stretch of goose eggs, but the WooSox would hold on to win the series opener by a final score of 3-1. Fitts (W, 9-5) earned his ninth victory of the season and Guerrero (S, 2) notched his second save while Alvarez (L, 4-5) was handed the defeat.
