The farm amassed a total of 40 runs on 49 knocks Wednesday.
As Kutter Crawford continued to give the longball up on the last game before weather possibly throws a wrench in the works (though reports show Boston’s weekend rain accumulation possibility waning over the last 24 hours or so), the Red Sox minor league pitching likewise wasn’t pristine. The majority of contests were openers or bullpen games, save for a usual strong start by Yordanny Monegro. Luckily, between Worcester and Portland, the two clubs had 30 hits on the night including contributions from some extremely common suspects, and Greenville added in plenty of their own in the tenth inning alone. Names putting in some work at the plate included Mickey Gaspar, Jamie Westbrook, Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell… stop me if you’ve heard these highlights before. Oh, and every club won! Well, let’s get into it, shall we?
Worcester: W, 9-6 (BOX SCORE)
We’ll ignore the fact that the only three WooSox to strike out at all struck out multiple times, and that all three (Triston Casas, Reese McGuire, and Bobby Dalbec) have service time this season on the Major League club. We’ll ignore the fact that the WooSox left 16 (!!!) runners stranded against the Mets in Syracuse. We’ll even ignore that the pitching gave up 11 hits, and that Justin Hagenman was really quite hittable.
The bats were electric for Worcester tonight, especially so in the sixth inning, when they pulled ahead with four runs. Jamie Westbrook had four hits on the night as he tries to make a case for the Major League squad. Also, Triston Casas absolutely looks ready to be back with the club; he was flying around the bases tonight with two doubles.
Portland: W, 13-8 (BOX SCORE)
Speaking of flying around the bases… sheesh. Elih Marrero, a catcher, had two home runs and two doubles. That would be a story of its own if Roman Anthony didn’t also capture four hits on the night and if Kristian Campbell hadn’t followed him up with two and a stolen base. All told, Portland had 15 hits of their own against the Curve (Pirates AA), matching Worcester’s total, which works because even if the pitching wasn’t as solid, it didn’t have to be. And how about Blaze Jordan with a bases-clearing, three-run, two out RBI in the eighth? The play had a .583 WPA and allowed Portland to pull in front. I’d say this was a football score, but it’d have to have some weird circumstances to end up 13-8.
Greenville: W, 12-8 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)
It was annoying that it took more than an hour for this game to finish up after the other ones, but it was funny to see the score just keep going up. This was a nail-biter of sorts until the extra inning, when Winston-Salem’s (White Sox High-A) relief imploded. Poor Dash pitcher Zach Franklin needed more than 43 pitches to get through not quite two innings, and Bryce Collins needed more than 30 more to wrap the tenth up once Greenville exploded for four six eight nine runs in the frame; for reference, Yordanny Monegro, who looked fantastic as usual, by the way, got through five for Greenville on 65 pitches. Greenville gave the relief plenty of baserunners, as Allen Castro finished a homer short of the cycle and Jhonstynxon Garcia chipped in three singles and a double of his own, but, as with the other clubs Wednesday, that didn’t immediately translate to runs. Until, in the tenth, it all did at once. Lefty Zach Fogell struggled in the bottom of the tenth, giving up two home runs, but it’s hard to choke up a lead that sizable.
Salem: W, 5-3 (BOX SCORE)
Danny Kirwin made a defensive game possible with a one-hit, five-strikeout effort to start against Delmarva (Orioles A), and Denis Reguillo and Francis Hernandez locked most of the rest of the game down. That man Nelly Taylor keeps hitting in clutch situations, and Freili Encarnacion drove him and others in; 4 of the 5 Salem runs, to be exact. Encarnacion now has four multiple-hit games in two weeks, and it made all the difference Wednesday.
Have a happy Thursday!