The 24-year-old righty notched 11 strikeouts in five innings of work.
Last night the farm had blown saves, a prospect delivering in a BLAZE of glory with two doubles, an incredible showing from a starter, Triston Casas and Vaughn Grissom on the field in Worcester (one played well, the other did not…. you can guess which one was which), and an extra-innings win. Let’s get into it!
Worcester: L, 6-8 (BOX SCORE)
This game threatened to get away from Jason Alexander in a hurry after he gave up a first-inning home run to old friend Pablo Reyes, now in Syracuse (Mets AAA). But he kept the lead safe after it was regained during his five innings. Unfortunately, the bullpen blew two saves, ending in a four-run eighth for the Mets courtesy of the spotty pitching of Chase Shugart and Bailey Horn. Enmanuel Valdez provided a shot in the first inning and Bobby Dalbec blasted his 15th homer in AAA this season, but there’s only so much you do with lackluster relief. But, one thing that isn’t lackluster…. how about Mickey Gasper continuing to rake with 3 hits?
Portland: W, 7-0 (BOX SCORE)
As mentioned before, there is only one Coffey in the Red Sox organization now, but Isaac, the 10th round pick in 2022, had a performance that’s GROUNDS for a better look at him. Do you think my coffee pun is hilarious? No? Neither did the 11 Altoona (Pirates AA) batters he sat down on strikes in just 5 innings of work. Unfortunately, he wasn’t too efficient in those 5 innings and couldn’t go any further in the contest, as he was already at 88 pitches. But look at this beauty. And I’m not talking about the blue throwback uniforms the Sea Dogs donned Tuesday, though those are amazing, too. This is the second time in three weeks the former Oral Roberts standout struck out at least 10, and he struck out 9 just a week prior to that. That gives him 103 K’s in 87 innings in 2024.
And let’s not pretend the Portland offense is full of slouches. Blaze Jordan contributed with two doubles on Tuesday night, each of which scored both Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony. Campbell and Teel both drew two walks on the night, so it’s very heartening to see guys who are patient at the plate not too far from Boston.
Greenville: L, 4-9 (BOX SCORE)
Greenville gave up nine runs again, but this time their bats couldn’t carry them to victory. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz had another respectable start, but Cooper Adams again imploded. Try as the lower third of the lineup might to put some runs on the board, as each reached base with at least a hit and a walk on the night, Greenville left 11 stranded against the Dash (White Sox High-A).
Salem: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE) (F/10)
Is this the Salem team that was dropping games haphazardly at the beginning of the season? The Red Sox now have four consecutive wins following another exemplary Juan Valera start against the Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles A). The 18-year-old now has still not allowed a run since bing called up to Salem, and the high-leverage arm Max Carlson picked up his fifth decision win in relief through not allowing a baserunner and striking out 3 across the 9th and 10th innings. He held the game long enough for catcher Andruw Musett to walk it off in the tenth, scoring that man Antonio Anderson again. Good to get a W!
Have a happy Wednesday!