'Nadoes rally to win in 10th; Solano propels sweep of Grays.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Jim Wilson

WORCESTER - Things are starting to pick up for the Worcester Tornadoes.

The Tornadoes coughed up a late two-run lead, but rallied for a 4-3 win in 10 innings, completing a three-game sweep of the once-first-place Grays in front of 2,606 fans yesterday at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field.

Worcester third baseman Euvi Solano went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and was a triple short of the cycle. Solano entered the game 0 for his last 9 and said it was important for the team to rebound after a masterful performance from starter D.J. Mattox.

Solano cranked an RBI double to the gap in left-center to score Jeff LaHair in the top of the 10th. He later scored on an RBI single by Chris Colabello.

"I wanted to get a good swing on the ball," Solano said. "Mattox pitched really good. We had to come back because in this game, that happens."

Worcester has won four in a row, six of its last seven and is over .500 for the first time at 9-8. It was the first series sweep of the season for the Tornadoes and the first time Worcester has played extra innings this year.

Mattox allowed just two hits over seven innings while walking two and striking out eight. It was the second consecutive strong start for Mattox, who tossed a seven-inning, complete-game three-hitter against Brockton.

Worcester has also benefited from the play of shortstop Dominic Ramos. Although Ramos went 0 for 4 yesterday, he has been a catalyst by hitting in 10 of 16 starts. Ramos, who had a five-game hitting streak snapped yesterday, came into the game batting .327 with one home run and seven RBIs.

Since being acquired in a preseason trade with Nashua, Ramos is happy to have landed in Worcester, a team that has the same work ethic he has.

"I felt the team and the coaches just want to work," the 24-year old Ramos said. "When you get around a group of people, sometimes if you're a hard worker and they're a group that doesn't want to work that hard, they're going to look down on you. There's not of that here. You get your work in, you try to get out of here and you try to win games. It's really been good for me and everyone else to develop as players."

It's been a busy offseason for Ramos, who was one of the Red Sox organization's final cuts in spring training. Ramos, a former 17th-round pick of the Red Sox, hit .224 with 29 RBIs for Greenville in the South Atlantic League last year. He was promoted to Wilmington and hit .163 with four RBIs in 31 games. He did appear in five...