Four hits for the young shortstop as Worcester wins by ten runs.
What’s the saying? When the farm is away, the Red Sox will play? For those looking for a game in New England to go to tonight, you’re not in luck…. the Red Sox are off and every farm team is on the road. But, don’t worry, every squad got at least one win yesterday, Major League team included, but some teams looked more impressive than others, as did a couple guys who have already made some waves this season. Let’s get into it!
Worcester: W, 13-3 (BOX SCORE)
Chris Murphy is now rehabbing in Worcester and he grabbed the decision win in this one in a bullpen day, thanks partly to a mid-innings offensive explosion by the WooSox in Lehigh Valley (Phillies AAA). It may be a matter of time before he finds himself back at Fenway.
As for the offense: wow! Thirteen runs on seventeen hits, Vaughn Grissom with four hits, the Password with his fifth home run in three weeks, Nate Eaton adding to the fire in the third, Trayce Thompson with five RBIs and two extra-base hits, and the team notching six hits with runners in scoring position…. whoever says this Worcester lineup lacks explosiveness without Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer should get acquainted with some of the guys down in Worcester.
Portland, Game 1: W, 4-3 (BOX SCORE)
In this seven-inning contest, Portland mounted a fifth-inning comeback against the Patriots (Yankees AA) thanks to some walks and a subsequent throwing error. That the Sea Dogs won with just three hits speak to how good Connelly Early was on the mound. The young lefty struck out eight batters in five innings, even if he tied a season high for runs allowed. This is the seventh time he’s struck out at least seven batters and he’s tied for fourth in Double-A in the stat. This is a huge improvement, which leads me to some musing about Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer. They’re sitting out for lack of prowess against lefties, and that may lead some to hypothesize that the really good lefties may stump Anthony and Mayer as they haven’t faced those quality arms in the minors. But isn’t the real issue that some teams are bringing lefties up quickly rather than letting them marinate in the system? I’d rather see an arm like Early mature into the strikeout machine he’s established himself as. And he’s still just 23!
Portland, Game 2: L, 2-9 (BOX SCORE)
The bats were really cold all night for Portland, but they didn’t have the luxury of Early on the mound in this bullpen game, and they gave up nine runs in three innings before Noah Song came in for a couple of scoreless innings and Chad Epperson called on an Ehrhard brother to pitch for the second time this week. For what it’s worth, Drew’s brother Zach had two hits in the leadoff spot, including his third home run since his promotion, and Allan Castro tacked on two hits including a homer of his own, but tonight was a lackluster night for just about everyone else.
Greenville: W, 6-4 (BOX SCORE)
The Drive, went down 3-1 against Hudson Valley (Yankees AA) but pulled it together in the late going behind a scoreless four innings of relief by Danny Kirwin. The late-game heroics were thanks to a Yophery Rodriguez home run, which held a jawdropping .526 WPA. In the top of the ninth, Antonio Anderson sealed it with a 2-run RBI. and Greenville has now won six of their last eight.
Salem: W, 6-4 (BOX SCORE)
Salem played copycat to their Greenville counterparts by a score of 6-4 in Delmarva (Orioles A). Luis Cohen, one of the most dependable arms the Salem squad has, did a Connelly Early impression by striking out eight and giving up three runs pitching five plus innings, even into the sixth, and Eybersson Polanco carried the game from the seventh on for the save. Forget the bottom three slots of the lineup striking out eight times, making Starlyn Nunez’s multi-hit performance a bit more hum-drum than falling into the “Have a Day!” category, a win is a win. Right? Right?
Have a happy Thursday!