… and scoring, as he accounted for 3 of Worcester’s five runs Tuesday. What’s the limit for him in 2024?
Those guys Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell continue to impress after their call-ups to Worcester, even among other eyebrow-raisers experiencing some turbulence on their trajectory forward. The farm went 2-for-2 as the Red Sox tied the series up with Toronto (or pulled ahead if you’re of the mindset that Monday game one actually happened in June…) and Worcester continues to stay hot, adding to that September 1 roster fill intrigue. And there are plenty of candidates to pique some more interest… so let’s get into it.
Worcester: W, 5-4 (BOX SCORE)
After the Mud Hens (Tigers AAA) got thrashed by Worcester, they decided to make things a little more interesting and drive Quinn Priester out of the game four innings in. But luckily, over the last five innings, featuring Zach Penrod and Liam Hendriks, the WooSox held Toledo hitless for 15 outs to take another game. Vaughn Grissom scored Kristian Campbell on a huge seventh-inning single that ended up being the game-winning run. In fact, Campbell scored three of Worcester’s five runs, and the 1-through-3 slots accounted for all five runs. Worcester has now won nine of their last ten and hasn’t dropped a series since the beginning of the month. Short of surprising a lot of people with a late season Big Three (Kristian Campbell version since Marcelo Mayer is injured) call-up or Richard Fitts promotion, I’d expect Liam Hendriks to occupy one of those September 1 roster slots, marking his return.
Portland: L, 1-3 (BOX SCORE)
Isaac Coffey had a good game by the numbers on the mound against the Senators (Nationals AA) by striking out six in three innings. But ultimately the three walks and two home runs caught up to him, as he was handed his third loss of the season. Mikey Romero scored Portland’s only run via his first Double-A home run in the sixth inning, while fellow recent callup Jhonstynxon Garcia contributed with a double.
Greenville: L, 2-0 (BOX SCORE)
Poor Blake Wehunt. He put in perhaps his best five innings of the season, striking out seven and giving up Bowling Green’s only hit of the night. One of the two walks he gave up came back to bite him, though, and Greenville couldn’t score at all to secure a W against the Hot Rods (Rays A). Greenville struck out seventeen times, could not draw a walk, and knocked just two hits, and even one of those was put away via a double play. This sort of stuff happens near the end of the season when logjams get cleared up, it’s just disheartening to see it happen on a night where just one hit was given up.
Salem: W, 7-2 (BOX SCORE)
Salem: a team that stands behind good pitching. Luis Cohen had five shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks and striking out five Shorebirds (Orioles A), and the bullpen held up for him, mostly because of the bat of Franklin Arias. The 18-year old shortstop had a late three-run shot to seal the game. Shortstops are really impressing throughout the organization right now. I’ll ignore the 4-for-16 effort with runners in scoring position and the 12 strikeouts, because Salem had more runs than the whole rest of the farm system combined Tuesday.
Have a happy Thursday!