WooSox Held to Three Hits in 7-1 Loss to Gwinnett 

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – The Worcester Red Sox (34-26, 73-62) were held to three singles in a 7-1 loss to the Gwinnett Stripers (30-29, 63-71) on Friday night at Coolray Field, and now sit 3.5 games back of first-place Durham and Lehigh Valley with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

New Bedford, MA native Jared Shuster (W, 5-6) spun a six-inning gem for the Stripers, holding the WooSox to one run on three singles, and punched out seven batters to help work around five walks.

Worcester’s finest moment came on the defensive end in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Narciso Crook climbed the left field wall to snag a deep drive off the bat of Drew Lugbauer, who had gone deep to left in the fourth inning. Lugbauer drove a 98 mile-per-hour fastball from Nick Robertson the other way, sending Crook sprinting back toward the warning track. He stutter-stepped as he neared the wall, launched himself up at the fence, and planted his right foot into the green padding as he reached high to make a twisting, run-saving snag at the yellow stripe.

At that point, Gwinnett was comfortably ahead 7-1, having scored runs in six of their first seven innings. Brian Van Belle (L, 4-3) allowed just two earned runs in four frames, but both came on solo home runs by Hoy Park in the second and Lugbauer in the fourth.

The WooSox plated their lone run in the sixth inning, after loading the bases with nobody out with singles from MLB rehabber Pablo Reyes (who finished 1-for-3 in three at bats) and Nick Sogard, along with a walk to Bobby Dalbec. Ronaldo Hernandez hit a sac fly to plate Reyes, but left fielder Dalton Guthrie turned two when he threw out Nick Sogard trying to advance to third on a close play.

The Stripers later added a home run from Braden Shewmake, an RBI single from Lugbauer, and a two-run base hit from Jesus Aguilar to extend the lead to 7-1.

With the help of Crook’s catch, Robertson logged a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts, and now has a 1.23 ERA over his last seven outings with six punchouts and one walk.

The series continues on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m., and will conclude with a Sunday matinee at 1:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. The WooSox return home to Polar Park for the final homestand of the season next Tuesday through Sunday, when fans will be treated to Super Duper Fan Appreciation week in Worcester.