Red Sox Minor League Report: All Affiliate Teams Lose as Woes Continue for Greenville

[Ben Lofy]

Boston Red Sox Farm System Recap

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Series at Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays): 1-4

Season Record: 23-20

Worcester fell for the third straight time in a five-inning game shortened by rain.

Alec Gamboa made the start for the WooSox, going four innings before the rain became too much. He allowed four hits and two runs, both runs coming via solo homers. Gamboa’s start was otherwise unremarkable, he struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

The WooSox offense recorded four hits before the game was suspended. Similarly to Friday’s contest, they didn’t record a hit with runners in scoring position despite having four opportunities. Kristian Campbell, Matt Lloyd, Nate Eaton, and Braiden Ward each recorded a hit. Campbell, Eaton, and Ward each singled and Lloyd doubled. Ward also drew the only walk of the afternoon for Worcester.

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Series at Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): 3-2

Season Record:  17-20

Portland lost in walk-off fashion despite excellent work from the bullpen.

Jedixson Paez was scratched from his start on Saturday evening with a sore hip, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. Patrick Halligan stepped up in his place and put together his best outing of the season. Across a season-high four innings, Halligan didn’t allow a baserunner. He struck out four amid his perfect outing, setting up Erik Rivera for his relief appearance. Rivera’s outing was a mixed bag, however. Over two and ⅓ innings, he allowed one run on a wild pitch and Hartford scored once more on a passed ball. Despite this, he sent five batters packing on strikes. Rivera is a strikeout machine, totalling 30 punchouts over 22 and ⅔ innings. Over the next two and ⅔ innings,Max  Carlson struck out three and didn’t allow a run. His outing gave the Sea Dogs offense room to work as the game advanced to extras. In the tenth, Reidis Sena tried to fend off the Yard Goats as they attempted to walk it off. And walk it off they did, with two men in scoring position, they dropped down consecutive sacrifice bunts, winning the game. Sena got hit with the blown save as he failed to win it for Portland. 

If you went to Saturday’s game after being in attendance Friday, you might have thought you were watching the same game all over again. Slow offense on both sides led to yet another extra-innings match-up. Brooks Brannon got the Sea Dogs started with a one-run double in the first, driving in Nate Baez. Down 2-1, Tyler McDonough stepped to the plate in the seventh and launched a solo homer to tie the game. Max Ferguson played the hero in the tenth, scoring Will Turner on a ground ball to left field. Despite Ferguson’s heroics, Portland fell in heartbreaking fashion. Franklin Arias was also removed from the game in the fifth inning after going 0/2 with a walk. Johanfran Garcia, Brannon, and Ferguson each recorded two hits, but the Sea Dogs went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position as they failed to capitalize.

High-A Greenville Drive

Series vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays): 0-5

Season Record: 14-24

The losing skid continued for Greenville as they lost for the eighth straight game. 

Devin Futrell put in two and ⅓ innings of work to start Saturday’s contest, allowing seven hits and four runs as Bowling Green’s offense jumped ahead early. He was ejected in the third inning. While not much has gone right for the Drive during their losing streak, Osvaldo Berrios’ rehab stint on Saturday did. Across two and ⅓ innings of work Berrios allowed one hit and one walk as he struck out four of the nine batters he faced. Jay Allmer took the next two and ⅓, but let Bowling Green take control as he got the loss and a blown save. He allowed three hits and walked three, giving up four runs (one unearned) as his ERA rose to 8.24. Allmer was bad, but Luis Cohen was worse. Over the final two innings he allowed the Hot Rods to tack on an additional six runs on six more hits and two walks.

Saturday was Greenville’s strongest offensive performance in a long time, but it still wasn’t enough to take down the Hot Rods. Down three in the second, Antonio Anderson tripled, driving in Ronny Hernandez. He was driven in later in the inning on a ground out by Natanael Yuten. Down 4-2 in the third, Jack Winnay homered with Yoeilin Cespedes aboard to make it a tie game. One inning later, the Drive took the lead on an RBI single from Justin Gonzales. Gonzales went ⅘ with an RBI and a run as he continues his dominant season. Cespedes followed this up with an RBI single of his own as he also had a four-hit day, leading the team with a .315 batting average. To cap off a three run inning, Winnay drove in Gonzales with a double, his third RBI of the day. As the Hot Rods scored ten unanswered runs, there was nothing the Drive could do but shake their heads. The only silver lining was a second home run, and fourth RBI, from Winnay, who contributed to half of the Drive’s offensive success.

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Series at Fredericksburg Nationals (Washington Nationals): 2-3

Season Record: 17-21

Salem fell yet again by a one-run margin, this time by a score of 10-9.

Cole Tolbert pitched the first three innings of Saturday’s contest, allowing just one run on a solo homer. He struck out five of the ten batters he faced as he let up his first run of the season thus far. Leighton Finley took the next three frames as the game started to unravel. Fredericksburg teed off against Finley, notching ten hits and eight runs as they drew four walks. Finley struck out just one batter in what was his worst start of the season by far. His ERA rose from 1.52 to 4.05 as the Nationals took advantage of his poor showing. Adam Bates took the final two innings, looking to rebound from Finley’s disaster. He pitched okay, allowing one more run and walking four.

Salem’s offense fought hard, but fell just short for the second straight contest. D’Angelo Ortiz scored on a wild pitch in the second inning to put the first run on the board for Salem. Ty Hodge followed this up with a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score Skylar King, snagging a one-run lead. King then reached in the fifth on a scoring error as Enddy Azocar crossed home. Andrews Opata scored next as Hodge reached on a fielder's choice. The RidgeYaks weren’t done scoring, King scored a second time on a single by Andruw Musett. Finally, Frederik Jimenez scored on a single by Avinson Pinto to establish a three-run lead. With the tables turned and Salem facing a three-run hole in the seventh, Pinto drove in two on a single to put the RidgeYaks within striking distance. Down 10-8 in the top of the eighth, Opata drove in Starlyn Nunez, but Salem was unable to tie the ballgame.

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[moonslav59]

While wins and losses for farm teams is not usually an indicator of how strong it is, the Red Sox system has been losing a lot, recently- from top to bottom.

Woo is still 22-20, but are 4-6 in their last 10. The team is loaded with AAAA type players having good season and not many top ranked prospects banging on the big league door. Bennett, Romero Uberstine (IL) and Bastardo are the top 20 prospects at Woo.

POR is 17-20 and also 4-6 in their last 10. Arias and Eyanson are wowing a lot of people. Holobetz and Wehunt are the other two top 20 at AA.

GRE seemed like the team to watch, when the farm season began. The Valera injury and promotions changed that quickly. They are now 14-24 after starting out something like 13-9. They have 5 of the top 10 prospects, and Cespedes at #20 seems to be on the rise.

SAL is 17-21 and also 4-6 in last 10. Azocar is #12 and the only prospect in the top 30.

FCL's top prospects:

9 Soto

15 Ramos

16 Rivas

25 Delzine

DSL: 28 Silverio & 29 Brito