Red Sox Minor League Report: Justin Gonzales And Henry Godbout Back-To-Back Bombs Lead To Greenville Victory

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Worcester gutted out a wild extra-inning win, walking it off with a two-run homer in the 12th inning, 10-8 against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders.

Worcester and Scranton battled back and forth in the first couple of innings. The WooSox got on the board early when Nick Sogard singled in a run in the first inning, but the RailRiders answered back with a three-run homer in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Worcester clawed right back, tying it 3-3 in the bottom of the frame on a pair of productive RBI groundouts by Tsung-Che Cheng and Matt Lloyd. After Scranton retook the lead 4-3 in the 4th, Anthony Seigler crushed a solo homer to tie it once again, and Cheng added a sacrifice fly to put Worcester up 5-4. Worcester stretched the lead to 6-4 in the 7th as Sogard scored on an error, then 7-4 in the 8th when Matt Lloyd launched a solo shot. 

Cade Feeney ran into trouble at the top of the 9th, surrendering an RBI triple and a two-run single that knotted the score at 7-7. Both teams went scoreless in the 10th. In the 11th, Scranton pushed across a run with a sacrifice fly to go up 8-7, but Worcester answered immediately. Kristian Campbell delivered a sacrifice fly of his own to tie it again at 8-8. 

In the bottom of the 12th, Allan Castro, who already singled, doubled, and stole a base on the night, jumped on a pitch and launched a two-run homer to end it, 10-8. 

Eduardo Rivera gave Worcester 2 ⅔ solid innings of middle relief (1 ER, 4 K), and Kyle Keller was dominant over 1.1 hitless frames with 3 strikeouts. Catcher Nathan Hickey picked up his first career win with a scoreless 12th.

Key Performances: 

• Allan Castro: 2-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB
• Anthony Seigler: 2-for-4, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Portland played two seven-inning games for their doubleheader, and it was a frustrating 4-2 loss for the Sea Dogs in the first game as their bats couldn't solve New Hampshire’s pitching staff, going 0-for-9 with RISP.

Portland managed just six hits on the night, and none of them produced a run through the first six innings. Blake Wehunt gave the Sea Dogs a clean first two frames on the mound, but the third inning unraveled as the Fisher Cats smacked a two-run double to put them up 2-0. New Hampshire followed up with another RBI, this time coming from a forceout. 

Max Carlson came on and had an excellent four innings of relief, allowing just two hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Although he gave up an unearned run in the 5th when a Fisher Cats runner scored on an error to make it 4-0, Carlson kept the game within reach.

A promising start slipped away from the Sea Dogs in the second game of the doubleheader as they lost 7-5

Portland came out swinging in the bottom of the 1st. Franklin Arias reached base with a single, and Will Turner launched a two-run homer to right field to make it 2-0. Max Ferguson added on with an RBI single to push it to 3-0. The Fisher Cats answered back immediately in the second inning, scoring off of a fielder's choice and an RBI groundout, 3-2. New Hampshire tied the game up 3-3 in the fifth with an RBI single. 

Both teams traded blows in the eighth and ninth to force extra innings. New Hampshire broke through in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly to go up 4-3, but Portland scored right back, Miguel Bleis singled in a run to knot the score 4-4. In the 9th, the Fisher Cats ripped a ground-rule double to put them up 5-4, and once again Portland responded: Tyler McDonough laid down a sacrifice bunt, and a throwing error by former Red Sox second round pick Cutter Coffey allowed Marvin Alcantara to score and tie it 5-5. 

The Sea Dogs unfortunately hit a dry spell in the tenth, giving up two runs and failing to score any runs with two runners on base to end it 7-5.

Caleb Bolden was very sharp in the 3 ⅓ innings he pitched for Portland, giving up one run and striking out eight batters.

High-A Greenville Drive

The Drive's bats came alive early and never let up, defeating the Greensboro Grasshoppers on the road 6-4. 

Greenville made their intentions clear in the first inning, Justin Gonzales led things off with a solo homer to left-center and Henry Godbout launched one of his own to left, back-to-back long balls that made it 2-0. Yoeilin Cespedes hit a single and moved to second base on a wild pitch, which would then set up Yophery Rodriguez to single him home to push the lead to 3-0. 

The Grasshoppers chipped away with two runs in the second to make it 3-2. In the third, Rodriguez earned his second hit of the game as Jack Winnay followed up with an RBI single. 

Greensboro scored another two runs in the bottom of the third to tie it at 4-4, taking advantage of some early mistakes from starter Brandon Neely. But Neely steadied himself and worked through 3 ⅔ innings. It was not flashy, but the Drive retook the lead for good at the top of the fourth when Godbout drove in Freili Encarnacion with a groundout to make it 5-4. A passed ball in the ninth brought in a run and added a little cushion for the Drive, 6-4. 

Greenville’s bullpen slammed the door shut in the last four innings, Danny Kirwin threw three scoreless innings, striking out six, and Matt McShane pitched the ninth, striking out two batters to earn a save.

Key Performances:

• Danny Kirwin: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6 K
• Justin Gonzales: HR, 2B, R, RBI
• Henry Godbout: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB
• Yophery Rodriguez: 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB
• Jack Winnay: 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB

Single-A Salem RidgeYaks

A walk-filled, error-plagued night doomed the RidgeYaks at home, as Salem could not capitalize on 11 walks drawn and fell to the Delmarva Shorebirds 6-2.

Salem struck first, as Kleyver Salazar (who reached base in four of his five plate appearances) worked a walk in the first inning, and Skylar King singled him home to put the RidgeYaks up 1-0. Delmarva tied it up quickly in the second with an RBI double to make it 1-1. 

The fourth inning is where it all fell apart. The Shorebirds led off the inning with a solo homer to put Delmarva up 2-1. Two walks and a throwing error by first baseman Frederik Jimenez led to two runs scored. The Shorebirds followed up with an RBI single, and suddenly it was 5-1. Salem’s bats were still quiet for the rest of the game, other than their last run scoring from a throwing error.

Griffin Kilander was solid in his relief outing, throwing two innings, one earned run, and striking out five.

The frustrating part for Salem was their inability to cash in runs with runners on base. The RidgeYaks drew 11 walks with five hits and were 2-for-13 with RISP.

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