…but he recovered and got a decision win thanks to an offensive explosion headed by Vaughn Grissom’s four hits.
Not an awesome night for the farm as the Red Sox captured their fifth straight win, but the right guys (see here: buyers? Maybe?) got their hits in. It may be hard to say goodbye to the potential that some of these young pieces bring, but as to where they fit in any potential iteration of a future contender, it’s hard to say. As for everything else… let’s get into it!
Worcester: W, 11-5 (BOX SCORE)
When every player in a lineup besides your nine-hole hitter gets a knock, you put yourself in a good position to win. That’s even with yet another iffy performance by Kyle Harrison, who has struggled since being traded to the organization. The WooSox got to Rochester early and often a week removed from hitting around their Major League squad in Washington, getting seven hits in three innings, giving Kyle Harrison enough room to go long enough for the decision win despite getting taken yard twice. Who contributed to this throttling? Who didn’t? Better-than-Connor-Wong catcher Nathan Hickey (who DH’d last night) grabbed his eleventh home run of the season. Five hitters grabbed doubles, and white-hot Vaughn Grissom got two and three RBIs among four hits. Grissom has now failed to get on base just once in the last two weeks and is hitting .500 in the month of July.
Portland: L, 1-6 (BOX SCORE)
While the Rockies are in town at Fenway, Double-A affiliate Hartford is in Portland. Eduardo Rivera had a quality start, letting up just one run on four hits in six innings. But the lineup couldn’t keep up after Caleb Boldon gave up four runs and the Yard Goats had a four-run explosive ninth inning, ending the pitcher’s duel and making this a 6-1 shellacking. The offense didn’t do their part, and the brothers Ehrhard collectively gathered half of the Sea Dogs’ four hits Tuesday. The other two hits? Some guys who have been in discussions amongst fan circles in recent weeks, for different reasons: James Tibbs and Mikey Romero.
Greenville: W, 2-1 (BOX SCORE)
As they were in Portland, hits were at a premium as Greenville hosted Winston-Salem (White Sox High-A). The Drive had just five on the night, but three of those came from their top three hitters, Franklin Arias, Miguel Bleis and Nelly Taylor, two of which were doubles with the other being a first-inning solo shot by Bleis to open up the scoring. That was the only run the Drive got for quite a while… Luckily, RUNS were at a premium for the Dash, and Manuel Medina went three strong to close this one out while the Drive walked it off with the only other run and the only other two hits on consecutive at-bats, a Yophery Rodriguez double and a Freili Encarnacion single that scored Nazzan Zanetello who had reached on a walk. It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win.
Salem: L, 4-7 (BOX SCORE)
Greenville had an ugly win, now meet an ugly loss. Salem had to use five pitchers, the defense committed three errors, and the most clutch hit they got was from Enddy Azocar’s two-out two-RBI double, capping off a glorious week for a guy hitting .194. The Red Sox, like most of the league, fell victim to Augusta (Braves A) speed demon Colby Jones, who notched his 46th stolen base of the season. Augusta stranded 11 facing Salem but the game could have fared even worse for the Sox if even some of them scored.
Have a happy Wednesday!