Minor Lines: Worcester Might Win Out! Dobbins, Meidroth, and Anthony lead the Woo Sox to their sixth straight win.

It might have been worth promoting “The Big Four” a little bit earlier for the sole reason of seeing what this Worcester team could do in the Triple-A playoffs. The International League splits their season into two, with the champion of each half of the season moving on to a Best-of-3 playoff series. The Omaha Storm Chasers (KCR) won the first half at 49-24, gaining home field of the playoff series. Worcester finished 35-40, tied for 13^th out of 20 teams.

In the second half, Worcester is making a late push for the title. After winning six straight, and 10 out of 11, the Woo Sox sit at 40-26, 2.5 games behind the Columbus Clippers (CLE) for first. After the current series with Syracuse (NYM), they’ll visit Lehigh Valley (PHI) who are 31-33 for the final six games. They might just have to win out to make up three games in the loss column, but with the roster in place at this time that’s not impossible.

The Portland Sea Dogs are in a similar situation but unfortunately, the Worcester talent gain is their loss. The Sea Dogs season ends a week earlier, and with just three games to go, the team sits a half game behind Somerset (NYY) for first place in the Eastern League Northeast. With two teams making the playoffs from each half, unlike Triple-A, they are aiming to be one of four teams advancing.

Worcester Red Sox 8, Syracuse Mets 1 (BOX)

Chase Meidroth had a huge day at the plate on Thursday night, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and bringing his average up above .300. See him here ripping a 101 mph single off of former Orioles great Shintaro Fujinami to score two runs. The kid may not be a superstar but there is going to be a place for him against big league pitching.

Roman Anthony continued to have no problem with Triple-A pitching, getting on base four times (double, three walks) and improving his slash line to .340/.433/.528. He is striking out just 18.1% of the time in 27 games since the promotion. No further questions, Your Honor.

Vaughn Grissom continued a torrid month with two more hits and an RBI, his third straight multi-hit game. He’s slashing .420/.531/.680 in 15 games since August 25th, which is great to see him fight back and avoid a completely lost season. Hunter Dobbins third start at triple-A was a six-inning beauty, giving up a run on six hits and striking out five for his first win at the level.

No starters have been named yet for Friday night’s game at 6:05 ET.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies 9, Portland Sea Dogs 0 (BOX)

Sea Dogs pitcher Connelly Early gave up six runs on the day, but none of them were earned as a result of two throwing errors from third baseman Ahbram Liendo. Binghamton (NYM) scored a run in the third after the first error, and then five more in the third capped by a three-run homer with two outs by top Mets prospect Ryan Clifford (18). Early struck out six and clearly deserved a better fate in this one. Robert Kwiatkowski pitched great in relief, striking out six of the seven batters he retired.

The Sea Dogs managed just two hits on the day. They have not named a starter for Friday night at 6:00 ET. Jordan Geber will throw for Binghamton.