The Triple-A affiliate put up a dozen runs behind six strong innings from Richard Fitts.
Phew, the Red Sox finally eked out a win after several harrowing days that saw their playoff chances dwindle. Which means, some guys in this article may or may not be getting some tryouts in a few… couple?… of short weeks. I’m sure, then, it may not be at all interesting to know that Chase Meidroth and Roman Anthony each reached base five times, right? Or that Richard Fitts is lowering his WHIP? Or that Kristian Campbell launched a three-run shot? Right, that’s what I thought. Regardless… let’s get into it!
Worcester: W, 12-2 (BOX SCORE)
Worcester opened up a fun series with the Mud Hens (Tigers AAA) with an even more fun win. The bats got to Troy Watson early and often; Kristian Campbell hit a 3-run shot, his third since being promoted to Worcester, in the third inning. If you didn’t have enough references to the number three in that sentence, that’s also the number of times Chase Meidroth was walked in addition to his two hits, second to Roman Anthony’s four hits in the leadoff spot. And, not to be forgotten, Enmanuel Valdez drove Kyle Teel and Nick Sogard in with a homer of his own in the late going. All this run support coasted Fitts to his eighth win of the season, but he was no slouch, going six strong, striking out six and giving up five hits and just the two-run homer to Justyn Henry-Malloy in the sixth to signify the nearing end of another quality start.
Portland: L, 4-11 (BOX SCORE)
Caleb Bolden and Juan Daniel Encarnacion each had another rough one for Portland, this time against the Senators (Nationals AA), as each got hit around a fair amount, the latter of whom giving up two homers to put this one more or less out of reach. Mikey Romero, who got the call up from Greenville and the leadoff spot in the same day, did have two RBIs through sacrifice at-bats and started the game off with his first Double-A split, but this game was definitively all Harrisburg from the start, barring that moment.
Greenville: L, 4-9 (BOX SCORE)
Jedixson Paez and Noah Dean also both got rocked in this one against the Hot Rods in Bowling Green (Rays High-A), Dean with his roughest outing of the season, not recording an out. The Drive couldn’t shore up many runs despite a flurry of opportunities; they left 13 men stranded. Six of the team’s seven hits came from two men; three a piece from Nelly Taylor, who got his call-up from Salem, and Miguel Bleis, who found his bat for the night but remains below the Mendoza line in High-A.
Salem: L, 2-5 (BOX SCORE)
The last of the losses on the farm to cover Tuesday does not suffer from a lack of pitching prowess, but from a lack of defensive coordination, as Salem tallied four errors on the night. I guess you can also stuff “lack of offense” in there too, as the four errors actually matched the number of base runners the team achieved on the night (three through hits and a walk.) Eduardo Rivera actually had a pretty fantastic night on the mound, striking out eight and giving up just a hit in four innings, but the bullpen came in and coughed the lead up, and with these bats, a W wasn’t to be.
Have a happy Wednesday!