The infield may be much less of a worry for most of the month of September for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox may have lost the series against the Tigers and put their season in even more serious jeopardy, but Comerica has a beautiful view (I saw firsthand this weekend) and, on an organizational note, the entire farm took some Ws. Not good enough news for the Major League club? Well, here’s a possible better note: Trevor Story is rehabbing, and he made an immediate impact. Kyle Teel also is campaigning for a Major League position in 2025, and he notched his first home run in Triple-A. And finally, the September 1 callups were… Chase Shugart and Enmanuel Valdez. That’s uneventful, isn’t it? Well… let’s get into it.
Worcester: W. 11-6 (BOX SCORE)
The Triple-A squad drummed up some offense against the Mud Hens (Tigers AAA). Brad Keller didn’t have too great of a performance in his five innings, but it didn’t matter, because look at that lineup. Yes, Trevor Story rehabbed, and he got a double (and another single) among the WooSox’s 14 hits. Kyle Teel also smashed his first home run in Triple-A, and we also got homers from Vaughn Grissom, Jamie Westbrook and Bobby Dalbec, Triple-A extraordinaire. Kristian Campbell finally has an OPS lower than 1.000, but don’t fret, as he also was able to score twice Sunday.
Portland: W. 9-1 (BOX SCORE)
The Sea Dogs pitching stranded eleven Senators (Nationals AA) behind four solid, no-hit innings from Caleb Bolden. The offense started off strong and kept churning. Mikey Romero has really found his footing in Portland, going 3-for-6 in the leadoff spot. Jhonstynxon Garcia also contributed a pair of hits; the two of them will be a couple of guys to watch at Hadlock in 2025. Overall, Portland simply did more with their opportunities than Harrisburg did with theirs.
Greenville: W. 6-1 (BOX SCORE)
Chalk it up as another great performance by Yordanny Monegro. Five innings, two hits, five strikeouts, and the bullpen also held their own against the Hot Rods (Rays High-A). Bowling Green was held 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Greenville won this game via death by a million papercuts; or at least seven. They didn’t have an extra base hit Sunday, but used their opportunities all at once, putting three runs on the board in each the fourth and eighth innings. The Drive have just one series left this season. Name to watch next year and for the duration of this year: Bryan Gonzalez.
Salem: W. 6-5 (BOX SCORE)
In Salem’s last game in their peniultimate series, catcher Brooks Brannon had “the Brooks Brannon game.” He had three of Salem’s seven hits against Delmarva (Orioles A) including a first-inning three-run shot that would have made a W pretty improbable otherwise. Brannon also added in a plan of singles, being in the right place for Fraymi De Leon to launch another home run which ended up being game-sealing. Nick Sansone going five innings consistently this season will likely lead him to a late season tryout in Portland, but time will tell.
Happy Monday, and Happy Labor Day.