Red Sox Minor League Report: Roman Anthony Clobbers Another Home Run As He Eyes Return To Boston

[Ayden Mason]

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 64-58

With Worcester fans and their dogs in attendance on a “Tail-Waggin” Tuesday, the Sox defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees) 8-5.

Starting his rehab assignment in Portland, Roman Anthony made his way to Worcester, joining his fellow rehabbing teammates Trevor Story and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The 22-year-old drew a four-pitch bases-loaded walk with Story following up with one as well, giving their squad a 2-0 lead in the second. 

Roman collected two hits in his first WooSox rehab game; a single in the first inning gave him his first hit, then a two-run blast in the seventh put Worcester on top 5-4. The homer was destroyed, getting clocked at a 106.5 MPH exit velocity. 

Franklin Arias was the only other teammate with multiple hits, and they were very productive. The shortstop hammered a groundball into left field to bring Eaton home in the third, then brought in another to continue Worcester’s five-run seventh, doubling in Romy Gonzalez. Kristian Campbell and newly promoted Nate Baez capped off the inning with a pair of RBI singles, extending their lead to 8-4.

After what seemed to be an unlucky start in his last appearance, Jedixson Paez dominated the RailRiders through five innings, striking out eight batters. The right-hander pounded the strike zone; 74% of his 54 pitches were strikes. He had a no-hitter through four innings, but the bid ended in the fifth when he gave up a solo homer, the only hit given up. 

Standout Performances: 

• Jedixson Paez: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 8 K
• Roman Anthony: 2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB
• Franklin Arias: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 60-60

The Sea Dogs fought back but ultimately took an 8-7 defeat at the hands of the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants). 

Portland’s bats had many chances to put runs on the board, but at the same time, you cannot expect to lose many games when you put up seven runs. Sadly, the pitching staff was disappointing. 

Every hitter for the Sea Dogs tallied a hit, 12 combined, three coming from Johanfran Garcia, one of which was an RBI single in the eighth. Justin Gonzales collected two hits that brought in runs, a two-run bomb in the fifth, his second homer in Double-A, and an RBI single in the sixth. The 20-year-old is now batting .350 and continues to show great plate discipline through five games, drawing three walks to five strikeouts in 20 at-bats.

Portland’s late push in the sixth came on a Max Ferguson RBI double that brought in Will Turner, and a two-run single from Henry Godbout tied it up 6-6; unfortunately, the Sea Dogs lost the lead in the bottom half and never came back.

Dalton Rogers was very wild in his 4 ⅔ inning start, giving up five walks, six hits, six runs (one unearned), while also committing two wild pitches. Tyler Davis came out of the bullpen afterward and had trouble missing bats, giving up two runs on three hits in 1 ⅓ innings. Erik Rivera was outstanding in his two innings of work, tossing two perfect frames with four strikeouts, giving Portland’s bats a chance to come back but the damage was already done.

Standout Performances: 

• Justin Gonzales: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB
• Johanfran Garcia: 3-for-4, RBI, BB
• Erik Rivera: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 53-65

In the first game of the Drive's final homestand, a walk-off ended it 6-5 against the Rome Emperors (Atlanta Braves). 

After a shaky start from Jacob Mayers put Greenville in a 3-0 hole in the second, the bats put a run on the board in the fourth inning on a Maximus Martin sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Owen Hull’s first hit came in the fifth after cracking an RBI single to bring in Antonio Anderson (3-2). 

Another run for Rome was brought in (4-2) during the seventh, but Jake Schaffner responded fast in the bottom half to make it a one-run game, pulling a line drive RBI single to right field, bringing in Nazzan Zanatello. 

A solo blast from the Emperors made it a two-run game in the ninth; it seemed over for Greenville, especially noting that they have not had a single lead all game. Starting off the bottom of the ninth, Yophery Rodriguez lined a double to left field, immediately bringing up the tying run to the plate. Anderson worked a walk on a 3-2 count, putting two runners aboard with no outs. 

Zanetello was fanned to record the first out of the inning, then came Schaffner in the clutch, hitting a ball up the middle to center field, bringing in Rodriguez (5-4). Up next was his college teammate Owen Hull, who then became the hero, smoking a deep fly ball to the center field wall, bringing in the tying and winning runs across the plate to walk it off. 

Behind Mayer's struggling start, Brady Tygart backed him up with six outstanding frames. Despite him allowing two runs (one unearned), the righty punched out nine batters while also keeping Greenville in the game as much as possible. 

Standout Performances:

• Brady Tygart: 6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
• Owen Hull: 2-for-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI
• Jake Schaffner: 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI, SB

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Season Record: 52-67

Salem’s lineup could not get anything done, still coming up just short 3-2 to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros).

The RidgeYaks recorded just five hits, while going 0-for-5 with RISP, absolutely not a recipe for success. However, Josue Brito still looks fantastic since his promotion to Salem. The outfielder from Venezuela tallied two hits and two of his team's only RBIs; his first Low-A homer was a first-pitch two-run bomb in the first inning. 

Salem’s three other hits came from Kleyver Salazar and Starlyn Nunez, who each had singles, while Adonys Guzman collected a double, the only other Salem batter with an extra-base hit.

Cole Tolbert has had a rough month of August, but he ended it off strong with 3 ⅔ shutout innings with four strikeouts. Cam Padgett got hit around, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks while giving up two runs. Yermain Ruiz finished off the next 2 ⅓ innings, giving up one run, but with the way Salem’s offense had looked, the run he gave up did not seem to matter. 

Standout Performance:

• Josue Brito: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI

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