Red Sox Minor League Report: Portland Sea Dogs Cap Off Dramatic Eight-Run Comeback

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (May 28)

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 26-25

A gem from the WooSox pitching staff prevailed in their 1-0 victory over the RailRiders.

One swing was all they needed. Anthony Seigler has been a menace for the entire series, leading off the top of the first with a solo homer to right field, his third of the year and second homer in two games. 

The bats were quiet otherwise; Worcester collected just five hits and struck out ten times against a solid Scranton pitching effort. Nate Eaton and Jason Delay doubled, Matt Lloyd singled, but none of it led to anything. Other than the homer, the RailRiders starter kept the WooSox in check for 5 ⅔  innings.

The story of this game was the pitching. Worcester's staff combined to throw a one-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts and just one walk. That's about as close to a perfect game as a bullpen effort gets.

Jack Anderson was sensational in his start on the mound. He set the tone for Worcester by throwing 4 ⅔ innings, giving up no walks and no earned runs on just one hit, while throwing eight strikeouts in the meantime.

The bullpen finished it off, Seth Martinez earned the win, going 1 ⅓  innings with a strikeout and a walk, the only free pass Worcester issued all night. Keller threw a scoreless inning with two punchouts and picked up the hold. Wyatt Olds tossed one scoreless inning with one strikeout while recording a hold as well. Tommy Kahnle slammed the door for his fourth save of the year, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning.

Standout Performances:

• Jack Anderson: 4 ⅔ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K
• Anthony Seigler, 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 25-22

From being down seven runs, Portland made an insane comeback to win it 10-9 against the Rumble Ponies.

Portland drew the first blood, Will Turner reached base on an error to lead off the game and scored on a Marvin Alcantara RBI double, giving the Sea Dogs a quick 1–0 edge. Binghamton tied it in the bottom of the first, then took a 2–1 lead in the third on an RBI groundout, but the game was still very much in hand.

Then, the fourth inning flipped the game completely. Binghamton erupted for seven runs against the Portland pitching staff. The Rumble Ponies opened it with a solo homer, then an RBI single made it 4–2. Afterward, they cracked a two-run double to push it to 6–2. They put an exclamation point on the inning after crushing a three-run homer to left-center that made it 9–2. Starter John Holobetz was knocked out during the carnage, and reliever Patrick Halligan couldn't stop the bleeding either, making the game look completely over.

The fifth inning flipped the script. Down 9–2, the Sea Dogs scored six runs to make it a game again. Nelly Taylor roped a lead-off double, Ahbram Liendo singled, and Turner walked to load the bases. Alcantara drove in a run with a single, and Nate Baez grounded out to score another. Then Brooks Brannon extended his hitting streak to five games, lining a two-run single to center to make it 9–6. With two outs, Johanfran Garcia launched a two-run homer that pulled Portland within one run at 9–8. It went from a funeral to a fight within one inning.

The comeback was completed over the next two innings thanks to some sloppy defense from the Rumble Ponies. In the seventh with two outs and no runners aboard, Garcia reached first base on a fielding error, then advanced all the way to third due to a bad throw, keeping the inning alive. Tyler McDonough ripped a ground-rule double down the left-field line to score Garcia, tying the game 9–9. Afterward, in the eighth, Caden Rose singled and stole second base, then advanced to third on a bad throw from the catcher. He then came across the plate on a Turner RBI groundout, giving Portland a 10–9 lead to complete the monstrous comeback.

Cooper Adams and Joe Vogatsky played a big part in the Sea Dogs completing the comeback. Adams was brilliant, throwing two no-hit innings with four strikeouts, earning his fifth win of the season. Vogatsky locked it down with two innings of one-hit ball, striking out two batters for his second save of the year. 

Standout Performances: 

• Marvin Alcantara: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
• Johanfran Garcia: 1-for-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
• Brooks Brannon: 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI
• Cooper Adams: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• Joe Vogatsky: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 19-27

Greenville won its third straight with a walk-off 3-2 victory over the Tourists.

The Drive fell behind early and had to claw back twice. Asheville smacked a solo homer in the top of the second to give them a 1–0 lead. Greenville tied it 1-1 in the third when Henry Godbout doubled, moved up to third base after a balk, then scored on a Luke Heyman sacrifice fly.

The Tourists went deep off Devin Futrell in the fourth, putting them back on top 2–1. Once again, the Drive needed to respond.

The tying run came in the sixth with some help from the Asheville defense. With two outs, Mason White doubled and then scored when Freili Encarnacion reached on a throwing error by the Tourists' shortstop, tying it 2-2.

Both pitching staffs took over the next three innings, bringing the game to extras. The walk-off was unconventional but effective. In the bottom of the 10th, Natanael Yuten was the ghost runner on second base and scored on a wild pitch by Asheville's relief pitcher, who recorded just one out before the game ended. Greenville wins it 3–2.

Devin Futrell started and went five strong innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs (two mistake pitches led to solo homers) while striking out six with no walks. Ben Hansen took over and was outstanding through four innings, giving up just one hit, no runs, and three strikeouts. Brandon Neely earned the win with a perfect tenth inning, one strikeout, and no damage done with the ghost runner aboard. 

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Season Record: 21-27

It was a frustrating night for Salem, as they could not find any runs and could not keep up with the Crawdads, losing 7-3.

Salem set the tone early in the first, Starlyn Nunez ripped a lead-off double, and Andrews Opata drove him in with a sharp line-drive single, giving themselves a quick 1-0 lead.

That was the last time the RidgeYaks had a lead. Hickory answered back quickly with a two-run homer in the top of the second to grab a 2–1 lead, then piled on two more in the third with a solo shot and an RBI single, making it 4–1. 

Salem could not capitalize on any rallies; the RidgeYaks managed seven hits on the night, going 2-for-9 with RISP. Outside of the first inning, they only scored twice, both times coming from Frederik Jimenez. He doubled home Adonys Guzman in the fifth to cut it to 5–2, then launched a solo homer to center in the seventh to make it 6–3. Those were the only two bright moments in an otherwise quiet lineup.

Without a doubt, Jimenez was easily Salem's best player in this contest. He accounted for two of the team's three runs and reached base in three of his four plate appearances. The RidgeYaks needed someone else to step up alongside him, but nobody did.

Standout Performance:

• Frederik Jimenez: 2-for-3, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB

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