Niko Kavadas lifts Worcester Red Sox to victory over Buffalo Bisons (video)

Behind Niko Kavadas’ back-to-back doubles, the Worcester Red Sox earned a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Bisons at Sahlen Field on Saturday night.

Five different pitchers recorded a combined 15 strikeouts for Worcester, as the road team improved to 31-37 on the season. After 2.1 innings of work, Lucas Luetge earned his third win of the season while Ryan Zeferjahn allowed a hit to earn his second save.

After a quiet first inning for both teams, things got interesting for Buffalo late in the second. Two batters after Orelvis Martinez (three RBIs) recorded his 13th double of the season, Michael Turconi secured runners on the corners with a single to right field.

This proved key, as Red Sox pitcher Richard Fitts threw a wild pitch that allowed Martinez to score from third. The home team wasn’t done, however, as Will Robertson and Phil Clarke earned back-to-back walks to load the bases.

The Bisons remained patient at the plate, as Steward Berroa drew his team’s third straight walk to bring Turconi home and double Buffalo’s lead to 2-0 in two innings of action.

Worcester struggled to muster any offense against Bison starting pitcher Andrew Bash as they struck out a total of eight times in five innings. But that quickly changed, as Mike Mayers replaced Bash with one out in the sixth.

The substitution didn’t matter, however, as Chase Meidroth and Nick Yorke each walked to secure the Red Sox runners at first and second.

Moments after Matthew Lugo flew out to left field for the second out of the inning, Kavadas responded with a two-run double to break the no-hit bid and help Worcester tie the score at 2-2 in six rounds.

However, the score did not stay steady for long, as Yorke moved Meidroth to third on a one-out double to right field to start the eighth inning.

But breaking the tie wasn’t going to be easy, as Buffalo’s third baseman threw out Meidroth, who was trying to score on a possible fielder’s choice to Matthew Lugo for the second out.

It wasn’t a missed opportunity, however, as Kavadas recorded his second straight two-run double to put the Red Sox ahead for good. Worcester will conclude its six-game series against Buffalo on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.