Cup of Coffee: Tolle strikes out seven; Gasper homers twice
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4/6 Cup of Coffee: With Greenville and Salem off and Portland rained out, all eyes were on the WooSox. Payton Tolle and Mickey Gasper (pictured) helped the team sweep a doubleheader over St. Paul. Kristian Campbell also went deep for Worcester, while Mikey Romero continued his hot start.
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It was a great bounce back start for Payton Tolle as he stifled the Saints in the first game of a doubleheader. Tolle allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings while walking one and striking out seven. He threw 50 of his 74 pitches for strikes, and he generated 11 whiffs. The save went to Noah Song as he pitched a spotless seventh. On offense, Nate Eaton accounted for the team's lone extra-base hit as he laced a 111-mph double. Mikey Romero ripped a two-run single as part of a 1-for-4 day, and Allan Castro went 2 for 3 with a stolen base and a throwing error.
Mickey Gasper staked the WooSox to an early lead, and they needed every bit of it to hold off the Saints. Gasper hit a solo home run in the first inning and he followed that up with a grand slam in the second. He finished 3 for 5 with a walk and the five RBI. Kristian Campbell also went deep for his first home run of the year. Aside from Gasper, the other two players with multi-hit games were Vinny Capra and Romero. Capra went 2 for 3 with two doubles, two walks, and three runs scored, while Romero went 2 for 4 with a double.
Worcester used five pitchers, with Seth Martinez and Reidis Sena being the only two to not allow multiple runs. Martinez allowed one run over two innings, while Sena picked up the win by throwing the last three innings and allowing just an unearned run.
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Portland Sea Dogs @ Somerset Patriots (NYY), PPD (rain)
After splitting the first two games of the series, the rubber match got rained out. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on April 29.
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Player of the Day: Two home runs, including a grand slam, from Mickey Gasper helped lead the WooSox. The 30-year-old catcher only played in one of the team's two games on Sunday, but he did enough damage to earn this award. He is now hitting .400 with a 1.371 OPS through his first 25 at-bats. This is after posting a 1.062 OPS in spring training. The New Hampshire native has made three starts at first base and two at catcher as he splits time behind the plate with Matt Thaiss and Jason Delay.
Photo Credit: Mickey Gasper by Kelly O'Connor