Red Sox Daily Minor League Report: Brooks Brannon Launches His Fourth Homer In Four Games

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (May 13)

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

The WooSox jumped on top early and never let the lead go, defeating the Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) 6-2.

In the first inning, Nick Sogard led the game off with a single and came around to score on a Nate Eaton sacrifice fly, giving the WooSox a 1–0 lead. 

The third inning blew the game open for Worcester. Braiden Ward worked a walk, then immediately stole his 20th bag of the season and scored on a Vinny Capra line-drive single to left. Eaton ripped a ground ball to Buffalo’s shortstop, drawing a fielding error that let Capra score. Jason Delay capped the rally with an RBI single to center, hitting in Mikey Romero and making it 4–0. Worcester tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth on a passed ball by the Bisons catcher to make it 5-2, then a Ward sacrifice fly made it 6–2 and put the game well out of reach. 

Worcester's pitching staff was dominant. Six pitchers combined to hold Buffalo to just two runs while racking up 12 strikeouts. Devin Sweet started on the mound and threw two perfect innings. Eduardo Rivera picked up the win, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. The middle relief was outstanding as well. Tommy Kahnle, Wyatt Olds, and Angel Bastardo combined for four innings of shutout ball, surrendering just one hit total. Bastardo was particularly sharp with three strikeouts and no hits allowed in two spotless innings. 

The standout hitters for the WooSox were Sogard and Delay, who each racked up two-hit games, while Capra, Romero, and Eaton all reached base multiple times as well. 

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Finding themselves down three runs in the seventh, the Sea Dogs rallied and came back to win it 9-6 against the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies).

Portland came out aggressively in the first inning, Franklin Arias and Nate Baez both drew walks, and Marvin Alcantara singled to load the bases. Miguel Bleis poked a grounder into left to score Arias, but Baez was gunned down at home. It still gave the Sea Dogs an early 1-0 lead. 

In the second, Tyler McDonough roped a leadoff double, and Max Ferguson laid down a bunt single; the Hartford pitchers' throw went wide, allowing McDonough to race home and put Portland back on top 2-1. The Yard Goats crushed a two-run homer in the bottom half, flipping the lead to 3-2 Hartford. 

Baez led off with a double in the third, Bleis followed up and continued his hot hitting streak with a line-drive single to center, driving in Baez to knot the score at 3-3. 

The fifth inning got out of hand for Gage Ziehl, who got roughed up in his five innings of work. Ziehl gave up two singles right away and gave up another single with one out; this time, it scored a run. With two outs, two runners on, and hopes of getting out of the inning with a one-run deficit, the Yard Goats cleared the bases with a two-run triple that gave them a comfortable 6-3 lead over Portland.

Brooks Brannon, who is coming off the Eastern League Player of the Week, continues to hammer the ball, launching a solo homer to left-center in the seventh inning, his sixth of the season and fourth in his last four games. It cut the deficit to 6-4 and shifted the energy. 

The eighth inning is where the Portland bats exploded. Bleis drew a lead-off walk, and McDonough instantly crushed a two-run homer to left-center, tying it 6-6. Nelly Taylor kept the line moving with a double, Ferguson came up to the plate and belted a two-run homer, the second two-run homer in the inning, without recording an out as Portland leads 8-6.

Arias walks, and Hartford changes pitchers. Arias stole second base right away and reached third due to a throwing error. Baez blooped a double to shallow right, scoring Arias. That would be the end of Portland's five-run eighth inning, making the score 9-6 and putting the game out of reach for the Yard Goats. 

Cade Feeney, who entered in the eighth and retired the side in order, came back out and did it again in the ninth: Six up and six down across two innings, earning his first save of the season. 

Although Ziehl had a rough outing, the bullpen behind him stepped up and kept Portland in the game until the end. Patrick Halligan was first out of the bullpen, throwing two hitless innings in the sixth and seventh. Feeney came in for the last two innings and shut the door.

Key Performances:

• Tyler McDonough: 2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
• Miguel Bleis: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB
• Brooks Brannon: HR, R, RBI
• Nate Baez: 2-for-4, 2 2B, R, RBI, BB

High-A Greenville Drive

It was a rough night for Greenville, finding trouble hitting in runs with runners on base in their 10-4 loss to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays).

Bowling Green scratched across a run in the second with an RBI single, then launched a solo homer in the third to make it 2-0. The Drive went quietly through the first three innings.

The Drive’s bullpen struggled all game, especially in the fourth inning. The Hot Rods roped an RBI single then blasted a three-run homer, putting Greenville in a hole 6-0.

Greenville showed signs of life. Freili Encarnacion drove in the first run with an RBI double in the fourth. In the 6th, Jack Winnay blasted a solo homer to left-center. A few batters later, Natanael Yuten brought in another run with an RBI single to pull it to 7-3.

There were some bright spots for Greenville. Justin Gonzales, Henry Godbout, and Mason White all had multi-hit games. 

Key Performances:

• Justin Gonzales: 2-for-5
• Henry Godbout: 2-for-5, SB
• Mason White: 2-for-4, 3B, R
• Jack Winnay: HR, 2 R, RBI, BB

Single-A Salem RidgeYaks

The RidgeYaks defeat the Fredericksburg Nationals (Washington Nationals) 3-1 in a very uneventful game for Salem up until the eighth inning. 

19-year-old Red Sox top prospect Enddy Azocar could be seeing a promotion to Double-A soon, collecting another multi-hit game while slashing .273/.322/.485 with five homers in the season. 

Salem trailed 1-0 for most of the game, but the eighth inning changed everything. Andruw Musett got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and suddenly the floodgates opened. Starlyn Nunez singled, Azocar ripped an RBI single to tie it at 1-1, he ended up getting picked off, but Andrews Opata drew a walk then got to second base on a wild pitch to put runners on second and third. Luke Heyman followed and delivered the dagger, a two-run double to center that scored Nunez and Opata, putting Salem up 3-1. 

Nicolas De La Cruz shut it down, striking out four over 2 ⅔  innings of relief, closing it out in the ninth to earn the win.

The RidgeYaks’ pitching staff was outstanding. Christian Foutch gutted through a tough 2 ⅔ inning start; he walked five batters and gave up the lone run in the third, but he limited the damage and kept it at 1-0. Ethan Walker came in after and delivered 1 ⅔ scoreless innings to stabilize the game. Harry Blum was dominant with four strikeouts over two clean innings.

Key Performances: 

• Enddy Azocar: 2-for-4, RBI
• Luke Heyman: 2B, 2 RBI

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