'Nadoes rebound from defeat.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Dave Nordman

BROCKTON -- Welcome back, Keith Beauregard.

The Leominster native, who rejoined the Tornadoes on Monday, delivered the go-ahead hit in Worcester's much-needed 8-6 win over the Brockton Rox last night at Campanelli Stadium.

Beauregard, who missed the first 13 games of the season with a pulled oblique muscle, delivered Mike MacMillan with an RBI double in the sixth inning that gave Worcester a 5-4 lead.

The Tornadoes scored another run in the sixth and two more in the ninth, before the Rox made a game of it with two runs in their last at-bats.

"It's nice to be back," Beauregard said. "But I'm just trying to help the team like everyone else. We're a family and we're here to win."

While Beauregard went 2 for 4, Worcester's Dominic Ramos and Chris Colabello both collected three hits. Ramos was 3 for 4 and scored twice, and Colabello was 3 for 5 with three RBIs. He also scored two runs.

The win helped ease any pain left over from Worcester's stinging, 5-4 loss on Wednesday. Only that defeat -- Brockton scored four runs in the ninth -- stood between the Tornadoes (6-8) and a four-game sweep of the Rox (8-6).

"(Wednesday) night is done. That's what I told (the players) after the game," said Tornadoes manager Rich Gedman, who questioned his team's defensive effort. "For the first time as a manager I let my feelings out in the newspaper. And part of it was to show them that I can do that any night, but I don't."

Gedman never doubted that his team would bounce back last night -- at least with a better effort.

"I try to stay positive," he said. "I basically said, `tonight, you'll find out who you are.' I didn't say we had to win, but we had to play and believe in ourselves."

Alex Pena picked up his first win of the season in his fourth start. The Tornadoes Opening Day starter struggled -- he allowed 4 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings -- but outpitched the Rox' Gary Galvez (6 runs, 9 hits, 5-1/3 innings).

Jamie Merchant threw three spectacular innings in relief of Pena, allowing just one hit, while striking out three.

Eddie Pena survived a shaky ninth, surrendering two runs on one hit and three walks.

Worcester opens a three-game homestand against the traveling Grays at 7:05 tonight (WCTR-TV 3, WTAG-AM 580). Mike Meagher (1-1, 8.49 ERA) will take the hill for the Tornadoes.

"Hopefully, a win like tonight gets us going in the right direction,"...