Nunez, Cluff lead Red Wings to 4-3 win over Houck and WooSox

BY DAN GLICKMAN

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Nasim Nunez isn’t known for his offense- he’s been able to make it to the big leagues for two straight seasons thanks to his speed and defense. But on Wednesday afternoon, it was both his hitting and his baserunning- aided by some good defense and timely hitting from Jackson Cluff and others- that helped the Red Wings even up their series with the Worcester Red Sox with a 4-3 win.

Having earlier come up empty in a bases-loaded situation, the Bronx-born but Georgia-educated Nunez, batting ninth in the lineup, more than redeemed himself in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out single grounded sharply up the middle. The ball got just under the glove of Worcester second baseman Vaughn Grissom, allowing Andrew Pinckney and Cluff to both come in and score, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

“A lot of times, you don’t get that big hit against a team that can pitch, and it can keep you from winning games,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “But we did just enough. That’s what you hope for- that one through nine at any point they can [win for you].”

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Nunez followed that up by advancing to second on a wild pitch and then stealing third, putting him in perfect position to later score on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Yohandy Morales to make it 4-2. The Red Wings (32-54, 5-9 in the second half) still had to hold that lead, however, and in the eighth the WooSox (45-43, 4-10 in the second half) cut the lead to one with a solo shot by Blaze Jordan to make it 4-3. Ryan Loutos came in to relieve Joan Adon after that, though, and shut the door with 1.1 innings of hitless relief. In 5.2 total innings of relief after Chase Solesky left in the fifth inning, four relievers out of the bullpen had held Worcester to two hits and one run.

“Our bullpen did a very good job,” said LeCroy.

Worcester had earlier taken an early lead, as leadoff hitter Nick Sogard doubled down the right-field line. The shortstop would later score on a sacrifice fly from his double-play partner Grissom, to make it 1-0. Sogard later scored Worcester’s second run in the top of the third, when he doubled with one out and then came home on a single through the right side by center fielder Jhostynxon Garcia to make it 2-0.

That’s what the score remained at until the bottom of the fifth, when Jose Tena doubled in Robert Hassell III to make it 2-1. That was shortly after rehabbing Boston starter Tanner Houck, a veteran of parts of six seasons including an All-Star campaign in 2024, left the mound after frustrating the Red Wings for most of his 4.2 innings of work, striking out six and allowing three hits and Hassell’s run.

“When you’re facing a guy who has time in the big leagues, you’ve got to lock it in, because you know they have good stuff,” said Cluff, who had one of his two hits on against Houck. “We were just trying to make him throw strikes, because all of his pitches are really good, but sometimes he can struggle with locations, so I think we were all just trying to wait and see something over the plate. You know you’re not going to get a ton of pitches to hit often, but you do get it, you’ve got to make it count- you can’t miss it.”

In some ways, the biggest defensive play to ensure the Red Wings kept their lead happened before they even had it, and Cluff played a big role. In the top of the sixth, Worcester led 2-1 and had two men on with one out. Designated hitter Nathan Hickey blooped a Konnor Pilkington fastball into right with what looked like would be a hit that could bring in another run or at the very least leave the bases loaded. Cluff, however, ran back and caught it over his shoulder before quickly pivoting and sending the ball to first to double-off Trayce Thompson, ending the inning and keeping the score 2-1.

“As an infielder, you just try to catch every pop fly until the outfielder call you off, and so when it was over my shoulder,” said Cluff of his catch. “I took a quick peek at [Nick] Schnell and saw he was a good ways back, so in my head I decided I’d just go for it. Luckily, I caught it, and they kind of had a base running mistake so I was able to get us out of that situation.”

The win, partly made possible by Cluff’s double play, was just the second of the season for Rochester against Worcester, moving their season record against them to 2-12. They’ll try to move it to 3-12 on Thursday at 6:45 p.m., with Rochester sending out right-hander Seth Shuman (1-4, 6.85) against Worcester’s veteran righty, Robert Stock (5-3, 3.05).