Red Sox Minor Lines: The final Chris Sale rehab start

We hope.

Worcester W 2-1

Yairo Muñoz, SS: 2-5, 1 K, 1 SB

Delino DeShields, CF: 0-5, 2 K

Josh Ockimey, DH: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 K

Jeter Downs, 2B: 0-4, 4 K

Jeremy Rivera, LF: 2-4, 1 R

Tate Matheny, RF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Chris Sale (SP): 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K (89 pitches)

Brandon Brennan: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (19 pitches)

Durbin Feltman (W): 2 IP, 0 R, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (25 pitches)

Zack Kelly (SV): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (16 pitches)

This one was all about the starter, of course, with Sale making what everyone is hoping will be his final rehab start before joining the Red Sox rotation next week. The plan was for the southpaw to go five or six innings in this one with a 90-pitch pitch count, but he hit a little bit of trouble with efficiency in the fourth which caused him to be pulled a bit earlier than you’d like. Still, all in all it was a strong day and another sign that he should indeed be ready to join a team that desperately needs some sort of spark. No pressure. We also had Yairo Muñoz extend his franchise best hit streak to 28 games, and he is another guy who should probably be on his way up to Boston.

Portland W 9-5

Pedro Castellanos, RF: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, LF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 CS

Tyreque Reed, 1B: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Hudson Potts, 3B: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K

Ronaldo Hernández, C: 0-4, 1 K

Jeisson Rosario, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Victor Santos (SP): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K (92 pitches)

What an absolutely wild game this one was. The Sea Dogs trailed 5-2 heading into the ninth inning, but they put up a seven-run rally in the inning, being punctuated by a grand slam from Potts to break a tie and not only give Portland a win, but do so without even needing a save. And while the rally late in the game was the story, Santos was the best player. After coming over from the Phillies to complete the C.J. Chatham trade last month, this was his third start since joining the Red Sox organization. He’s been impressive. He’s now got a solid 3.38 ERA to go with an even more impressive 16 strikeouts and only one walk. He’s one to remember when thinking about potential upper level depth for the 2022 season. Rosario also deserves a shoutout here, slapping two extra-base hits in what has mostly been a disappointing year for the outfield prospect.

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Greenville W 11-3

Christian Koss, SS: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Cameron Cannon, DH: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI

Tyler Dearden, LF: 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-5, 2 R, 2 K, 1 E

Joe Davis, 1B: 3-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 K

Stephen Scott, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Yusniel Padron-Artilles (SP): 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K (82 pitches)

Dylan Spacke (W): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (39 pitches)

Brendan Cellucci: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (22 pitches)

Just an all-around win for Greenville in this one, as both the offense and the pitching showed up to dominate Saturday’s game. At the plate, there were contributions up and down, but as is becoming routine Davis was one of the leaders. He now has a 1.094 OPS and actually seems to be getting better as the season goes on. It’s probably ambitious, and would be tough to pull off with Triston Casas coming back from Japan and Tyreque Reed already up there, but Davis probably needs a new challenge and another promotion to Portland isn’t unreasonable in a vacuum. Again, I don’t think it happens because you only get so many lineup spots a day, but I’d like to see what he can do there. On the mound, Spacke was particularly impressive, and the 2019 21st rounder now has a 2.87 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 47 innings on the season.

Salem W 5-3

Antoni Flores, 3B: 0-2, 3 BB, 1 RBI, 1 E

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-5, 1 R, 1 K

Nick Decker, RF: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Nicholas Northcut, DH: 1-5, 1 R, 1 K

Alex Erro, 2B/1B: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Ceddanne Rafaela, 2B: 1-3, 1 RBI

Shane Drohan (SP; W): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K (70 pitches)

Devon Roedahl (SV): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (8 pitches)

Drohan is on a nice little run here in the Salem rotation, and looks to be finding some comfort as a pro after getting off to a little bit of a rocky, inconsistent start. Going back to June 24, he has allowed two or zero runs in seven of his last eight starts, and one or fewer in six of those. That includes each of his last four in which he has pitched to a 1.42 ERA over 19 innnings of work, striking out 19 and walking five. As a guy who only recently started concentrating on baseball (recently relative to most recent college draftees), he’s a little more raw than your typical 22-year-old, but we’re seeing the talent on full display. Roedahl is also having a fantastic season, now down to a 1.77 ERA with just about a strikeout per inning, and frankly it’s perplexing he hasn’t been given a shot in Greenville yet.

FCL G1 W 11-5

Brainer Bonaci, SS: 3-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 E

Tyler Miller, 1B: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 E

Bryan Gonzalez, LF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Phillip Sikes, CF: 2-2, 1 2B, 1 CS

Freddy Valdez, PH/RF: 2-2, 1 2B, 1 R

Jose Garcia, C: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

Nathanael Cruz (SP): 0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K

Cole Milam: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

FCL G2 L 1-4

Brainer Bonaci, 2B: 0-4, 2 K

Marcelo Mayer, SS: 0-3, 1 K, 1 E

Tyler Miller, 3B: 2-3

Danny Diaz, 1B: 0-3, 2 K

Miguel Ugueto, CF: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 R

Freddy Valdez, RF: 0-2, 1 BB

Juan Daniel Encarnacion (SP; L): 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Gregori Segovia: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Reidis Sena: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

This wasn’t quite a doubleheader as they were picking up a suspended game for that first one, but that was certainly the better of the two. It was particularly nice to see a big game from Bonaci, who was one of the most intriguing complex players coming into the year but had been a bit inconsistent to start the year. Hopefully this game can spark a streak, though the second game doesn’t really make that indication. On the mound, Encarnacion had his first rough start of the year, at least by results. With seven strikeouts and only one walk over four innings, it’s tough to say how much was him and how much was FCL defense coming into play.

DSL Red L 6-11

Miguel Bleis, CF: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Enderso Lira, C: 1-4, 1 R

Kelvin Diaz, RF: 2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Luis Ravelo, SS: 2-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Albertson Asigen, DH: 2-4, 1 R

Francis Hernandez (SP): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K

DSL Blue W 11-6

Juan Chacon, CF: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Lyonell James, 3B: 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Armando Sierra, LF: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Alex Zapete, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 E

Yizreel Burnet (SP): 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K

For some reason, this was a day filled with matchups between affiliates of the same team, and for the Red Sox it was the Blue squad coming out in front. Zapete deserves a shoutout for getting back on track after a little mini slump, but it’s Burnet I want to talk about. He’s been the best pitcher at the DSL so far this year, with an ERA now sitting at 1.69. The strikeouts weren’t really here for this one, but he’s an interesting low-level name to follow for now, at the very least.

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Player of the Day: Victor Santos

Player of the Day Chart