Red Sox Minor League Report: Despite a Quiet Night For Every Affiliate’s Offense, Portland Pulled Off Extra-Innings Victory

[Ayden Mason]

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 64-59

Worcester’s offense could not amount to anything, suffering a 7-1 defeat to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees).

The WooSox tallied just five hits, none of which were extra-base hits. Batting one-two-three in the lineup, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Roman Anthony, and Trevor Story went a combined 0-for-10 with two walks, both coming from Kiner-Falefa, who also brought in Worcester’s only run in the fifth thanks to a fielding error. 

Gage Ziehl continues to scuffle over his last three starts, this time giving up six runs on nine hits through only three innings. Noah Song settled things down, shutting out the RailRiders the next three innings. Tyler Samaniego and Devin Sweet followed up with a pair of shutout frames as well, but Worcester’s offense had nothing going. 

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 61-60

The Sea Dogs battled in extra innings, coming out on top with a wild 13-inning victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants).

Believe it or not, this game was tied 0-0 through nine innings, forcing the game into extras. Hayden Mullins’ 5 ⅔ dominant frames, followed by 3 ⅓ combined shutout innings from Max Carlson and Reidis Sena, gave Portland life. 

Now in the 10th with the ghost runner on second base, Caden Rose’s grounder up the middle brought in Ronald Rosario to finally put a run on the board, 1-0. Richmond answered back with a run of their own in the bottom half; a sacrifice fly tied it 1-1. The punches kept coming from each side; Henry Godbout gave Portland a 2-1 lead in the 12th, then a throwing error from Rosario led to a 2-2 tie game.

The Sea Dogs did not stop fighting. In the 13th, Max Ferguson cracked a leadoff RBI double, then Yoeilin Cespedes came up right after and crushed a two-run bomb, giving Portland a three-run cushion.

In a 5-2 game entering the bottom of the 13th, second baseman Ahbram Liendo came in to pitch for the Sea Dogs, his third appearance as a pitcher. The 22-year-old gave up two runs, but in the end, he came out with the first save of his career in a 5-4 victory. 

Standout Performances: 

• Hayden Mullins: 5 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Max Carlson: 2 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Yoeilin Cespedes: 1-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 53-66

The Drive’s nonexistent offense and an error resulted in a 5-1 defeat against the Rome Emperors (Atlanta Braves).

Greenville's bats did not do much, driving in just one run on four hits and three walks, while getting punched out 15 times. Owen Hull, Maximus Martin, Nazzan Zanetello, and Stanley Tucker each had a hit, with Martin bringing in Luke Heyman on a double, the only run they recorded.

Despite taking the loss, Jason Gilman was a bright spot for Greenville. The southpaw punched out 10 Emperors through 5 ⅓ innings while allowing two runs, both of which were not earned (Antonio Anderson error). Matt McShane had a solid appearance out of the bullpen, striking out all three batters he faced in the ninth.

Standout Performance:

• Jason Gilman: 5 ⅓ IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks 

Season Record: 52-69

Game 1 of Doubleheader

For the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader, the RidgeYaks suffered a blowout defeat to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros) 11-4. 

The Woodpeckers strung together 11 runs in the first three innings to put this game away fast, but there are a couple of players who deserve to be highlighted.

Louis Andujar’s 3-for-3 night was a bright spot for Salem. The 18-year-old infielder blasted a solo homer in the first inning, then proceeded to hit two singles in his other at-bats. 2026 ninth-round pick Martin Shelar, whose record-setting $1,500,000 deal caught the attention of Sox fans, clobbered his first professional homer, a two-run blast in the third inning.

After the blowup start from Christian Fouch, Caden Vire and Wuilliams Rodriguez threw 3 ⅓ shutout innings and combined for six strikeouts to finish off the game.

Standout Performance:

• Louis Andujar: 3-for-3, HR, R, RBI

Game 2 of Doubleheader

Despite the bats not showing up, an error led to a tough 2-1 defeat to the Woodpeckers.

Franklin Primera registered two of Salem's three hits altogether. The only run for the Yaks came in the ninth, a little too late; a bases-loaded walk from Starlyn Nunez brought in a run with two outs, but his team could not capitalize on a potential walk-off.

Ethan Walker took a loss but still gave up just three hits with seven strikeouts through four innings. Nicholas Judice followed up with 2 ⅔ no-hit innings, then Nicolas De La Cruz recorded the final out of the seventh inning.

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