WORCESTER — Roman Anthony has a flair for the dramatic.
Baseball’s top prospect smashed his second grand slam of the season, and second big home run of this series against Rochester, launching an absolute moonshot off Red Wings righty Carlos Romero that Statcast listed at a jaw-dropping 497 feet, leaving the bat at 115 mph.
The shot sailed over the Worcester Wall into the night in the eighth inning of Saturday’s come-from-behind victory, giving the WooSox a 9-4 lead.
“That ball was crushed,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said. “The dugout erupted the way the ball came off the bat, the trajectory. That was a big time at-bat in a big-time moment again.”
It was the second time this week that Anthony came up big in a clutch moment. On Tuesday, Anthony launched a game-tying home run in the eighth in a game the WooSox went on to win in extras.
“Roman wants to be up [at the plate] in those moments, and coupled with his elite plate discipline, you know it’s not going to speed up on him and he’s going to swing at the right ones,” Tracy said. “You like his chances that when he’s swinging at the right ones the ball’s gonna find the barrel, and if the ball finds his barrel it has the chance to go a really long way.”
Anthony talked about his knack for the big moment earlier this week after his game-tying homer.
“It’s something that I look forward to…[during the game] I’m just thinking about it and and game planning and visualizing,” Anthony said. “So I’ve always been I would say good at game planning and and anticipating. So once you get in that moment and have a chance to do something extra, I think that’s that’s what you play for.
Despite the clutch home runs, the past couple of weeks haven’t been the easiest for Anthony at the plate; before Saturday’s game, he was hitting .211 over his last 15 games, though it should be noted he still boasted a .357 OBP. But the hits haven’t been falling the same way they were for the first couple of months of the season. But with one swing on Saturday, Anthony didn’t have to worry about where the ball fell as he cleared everything in right field.
“It felt great,” Anthony told NESN’s Natalie Noury. “Just trying to keep that win streak going. I’ve been grinding a little bit the last few weeks, but I had some good at-bats my first 2 at-bats. In that situation you just want to move the guy over and score the run somehow and got a good pitch to hit. Just pass it to the next guy. I just really had that pass it on mentality, and I just got a good pitch.”
A good pitch that he certainly didn’t miss.
WooSox 10, Red Wings 4
The WooSox rolled to their sixth straight victory, but they had to dig out of a first-inning hole to do it. Starter Richard Fitts was tagged for four runs on six hits and two walks. He settled in to pitch a scoreless second and third, and by the time the bullpen took over, the WooSox had taken a 5-4 lead.
Blaze Jordan continued his torrid start to his Triple-A career, adding his sixth double since joining the WooSox as part of a 2-for-4 day. Ryan Noda, who is swinging a very hot bat since coming over to the Red Sox organization from the Angels last month, added a two-run double. Nick Sogard added a little extra insurance after Anthony’s grand slam with his second home run with the WooSox this season.
The bullpen was nothing short of excellent, logging six shutout innings. Wyatt Olds was responsible for three of those, allowing three walks and striking out three. Zach Penrod, Jose Adames and Isaiah Campbell each logged scoreless innings as well. Penrod has yet to give up a run in four appearances with Worcester this season.
What’s Next
The WooSox will look to complete the series sweep and win their seventh straight, although their scheduled starter for Sunday, Robert Stock, was promoted to Boston on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m.
