'Nadoes having blast on the Rox; Walk-off, two-run homer by Minicozzi.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: John McGuirk

WORCESTER - The hope was that Zach Zuercher's one-hitter Saturday night would rub off on the rest of the Tornadoes, as a momentum builder for Worcester's pursuit of a playoff berth.

The Tornadoes added to that momentum yesterday as Mark Minicozzi blasted a walk-off, two-run homer to center field off reliever Jimmer Kennedy in the ninth inning to send Worcester over the Brockton Rox, 5-3, before 2,096 at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field.

Worcester (38-48) trails the New Jersey Jackals by a half game for the fourth and final Can-Am League playoff spot entering the final seven games. The Tornadoes return to action at 7 tomorrow night here against Sussex, the opener of a three-game series.

The regular season ends with a four-game set at Brockton, starting Friday night and ending on Labor Day.

"Since Omar Pena went down and Mark's moved to shortstop, he's been a warrior for us," Tornadoes manager Rich Gedman said of Minicozzi. "This couldn't have happened at a better time for us. A few days ago, it looked like things were starting to slip away from us, but now we're coming back a little, and we still control what we're able to control."

"He threw me a fastball middle away, and I got lucky," said Minicozzi, who drove in Boomer Blanchard with the winning clout. "I was actually looking off-speed, but it feels good. We need every win possible right now and anyway we can do it as a team. It's fun winning, isn't it?"

The Tornadoes took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Rick Asadoorian, who singled, scored on...