Red Sox Minor League Report: Blake Wehunt's Masterclass Leads to Historic Sea Dogs Performance

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (May 21)

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 23-23

The WooSox fell 9-4 to the Red Wings (Washington Nationals) after a hot start.

Worcester came out swinging in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of Rochester's wild starting pitcher. Braiden Ward led the inning off with a hit-by-pitch, then stole his 23rd base of the year. Nate Eaton walked, then Kristian Campbell drew a walk as well to load the bases. Anthony Seigler made the Red Wings pay with a bases-clearing double to right field, and Allan Castro followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-0.

Jacob Webb kept it clean through two innings on the mound, but the third inning unraveled quickly. Rochester strung together a double, a single, and a walk to load the bases with no outs. Two sacrifice flies and an RBI single to cut it to 4-3. In the fourth, Rochester had taken the lead 5-4 on a pair of singles.

It continued to be a frustrating fourth inning as Worcester loaded the bases with two outs and did not capitalize, scoring no runs. 

Alec Gamboa was a bright spot out of the bullpen. He was the only WooSox bullpen pitcher to throw at least one scoreless frame, spinning two scoreless, hitless innings in the fifth and sixth to keep it within reach. But the offense stayed cold, and Angel Bastardo's control issues let Rochester push the lead to 7-4 in the seventh. Kyle Keller gave up a two-run double in the ninth to make it 9-4, and Worcester went three up and three down to end it.

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 20-21

The Sea Dogs' pitching staff steamrolled the Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies), shutting them out 1-0 and combining for an outrageous 20 strikeouts.

After battling through a hamstring injury early in the year, Blake Wehunt had his best start of the year for Portland, setting the tone with a dominant five-inning shutout start, four hits allowed, and eleven strikeouts. He was virtually unhittable, punching out batters at a relentless clip. Patrick Halligan picked up right where Wehunt left off, striking out six in two innings of one-hit relief, including fanning the side in the seventh. Cooper Adams then slammed the door with a perfect eighth and ninth while striking out three batters to earn the save.

Marvin Alcantara was the offensive standout for the Sea Dogs, having himself a 3-for-4 day at the plate, his sixth multi-hit game of the year. Alcantara had three of Portland's four hits in this contest.

The lone run came in the bottom of the third inning; Will Turner was hit by a pitch, Alcantara laced a single to right field to put runners on the corners, and Nate Baez drove Turner home on a fielder's choice. Although they went 0-for-7 with RISP and had just four hits as a team, that one run was all Portland needed.

Key Performances:

• Blake Wehunt: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
• Patrick Halligan: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• Cooper Adams: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K
• Marvin Alcantara: 3-for-4 

High-A Greenville Drive

Game postponed: Rain, makeup on May 22

Single-A Salem RidgeYaks

Game postponed: Rain, makeup on May 22

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