Red Sox Minor League Report: Three-Hit Days From Ahbram Liendo and Johanfran Garcia Pilot Sea Dogs to Victory

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (June 3)

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 28-28

It was a nightmare at home for Worcester as they got blown out 12-0 by Buffalo.

The WooSox pitching staff imploded in the late innings. The game was scoreless through six, then everything fell apart. Worcester's pitchers issued an astonishing 14 walks on the night, and Buffalo made them pay for every one of them. Four of the five pitchers for Worcester walked three batters each, while the other pitcher walked two.

The seventh inning finally started the scoring barrage. Eduardo Rivera, who had kept Buffalo off the board for two innings, was pulled after he lost the zone, hitting a batter, then walking two more batters to load the bases. Angel Bastardo came in and immediately made things worse, giving up two singles and a double that brought in three runs to make it a 3-0 game.

The total meltdown happened in the eighth. Bastardo stayed in the game and got shelled. The Bisons' lineup batted around, 12 batters came up to the plate and scored a total of six runs as a group, pushing the lead to 9–0. Runs were scoring on walks, sacrifice flies, deflected grounders, and everything possible was happening in a bad way. It got so bad that catcher Nathan Hickey had to come in to pitch the rest of the ninth (his sixth pitching appearance this season). He gave up four hits, three runs, and three walks in his inning of work, extending Buffalo's lead to 12-0.

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 28-24

A wild back-and-forth slugfest ended in a Sea Dogs 10-7 victory over the Yard Goats.

Hartford struck first with a big blow, smashing a three-run homer in the top of the second to put the Yard Goats up 3–0 early. Portland cut the deficit in the bottom half, Will Turner and Nelly Taylor walked, and Caden Rose reached base due to a fielding error from Hartford's shortstop, loading the bases. Ahbram Liendo had one thing on his mind when he stepped up to the plate: being aggressive out of the gate, as he ripped a two-run single on the first pitch to cut it to 3–2. 

Both teams traded blows in the fifth inning, Hartford blasted another three-run homer to push the lead to 6–2. It felt like Portland was in real trouble, but the Sea Dogs came right back with a massive bottom half of the fifth. Liendo stayed hot, leading off the inning with a solo homer to center field, 6–3. Portland started a two-out rally, Johanfran Garcia singled, Ronald Rosario and Turner walked to load the bases. Nelly Taylor came through in a big moment, hitting a sky-high pop-up to shallow right-center field that dropped in no-man's land, clearing the bases to tie the game 6–6. Some sloppy defense from the Yard Goats led to a balk with Taylor on third base, bringing him across the plate to give Portland its first lead of the game. This was now a brand new ballgame.

Hartford retook the lead in the sixth on a solo homer to tie it again, 7-7. But Portland responded yet again in the bottom half. Liendo smacked a double (his third hit of the game), then advanced to third after a fielding error from the left fielder, and Franklin Arias singled him home to take back the lead 8–7. Garcia launched a solo homer to right-center (his ninth of the year), giving Portland some comfort room, 9–7.

Turner put the exclamation point on the game in the seventh with a solo homer to center, 10–7. Portland had all the cushion it needed.

John Holobetz and Cade Feeney both had rough outings, but Reidis Sena locked it down with two perfect innings of relief to close the game, no hits and walks with three strikeouts, earning his fourth save of the season.

Standout Performances:

• Ahbram Liendo: 3-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
• Johanfran Garcia: 3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI
• Will Turner: 1-for-2, HR, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB
• Nelly Taylor: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB
• Reidis Sena: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 21-30

After the tough loss yesterday, Greenville bounced back on the road by defeating the Emperors 9-3.

Greenville got on the board first in the third inning. Yophery Rodriguez led off with a single, Antonio Anderson reached base with a walk, then Enddy Azocar ripped an RBI double down the left field line to score Rodriguez, 1–0. Gerardo Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly that brought in Anderson. The Drive had a 2–0 cushion early.

Jack Winnay provided the power in the fifth. Before he came up, Gerardo Rodriguez hit an infield single, then Isaiah Jackson grounded into a fielder's choice to put him on first base instead. Winnay stepped up to the plate and took advantage of the first strike he saw, launching a two-run homer to left-center (his ninth of the year) to push it to 4–0. Rome responded in the bottom half with a solo homer and a double that led to a wild pitch, bringing in a run to cut it to 4–2, but Greenville was firmly in control.

The sixth inning buried Rome, and Greenville put up a five-run inning that put the game out of reach for the late innings. Yophery Rodriguez collected his second hit of the game with a double, then Antonio Anderson drove him in with a single to right field, 5–2. After Azocar and Justin Gonzales each lined a single to load the bases, Gerardo Rodriguez lined an RBI single to make it 6–2. Isaiah Jackson expanded the lead more after he cracked a two-run double, scoring Azocar and Gonzales, pushing Greenville's lead to 8–2. Mason White added on with an RBI force-out to cap the inning, 9–2. 

Other than a rough fifth inning, the Drive’s pitching staff dealt with business. Devin Futrell was solid in his 4 ⅓ innings of work, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks while punching out six batters. Ben Hansen continued to look solid ever since he moved to the bullpen, tossing 3 ⅔ innings, striking out four while giving up two hits and one unearned run (throwing error from Winnay). Matt McShane came on in the ninth to close out the game, throwing a perfect inning and striking out one batter. 

Greenville’s bats were on point in this matchup, multi-hit games coming from Azocar (3rd multi-hit day in four games), Gonzales, Gerardo Rodriguez, and Yophery Rodriguez. The lineup combined for 11 hits and six walks.

Standout Performances:

• Gerardo Rodriguez: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI
• Enddy Azocar: 2-for-5, 2B, R, RBI
• Jack Winnay: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Yophery Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
• Devin Futrell: 4 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
• Ben Hansen: 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K 

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Season Record: 23-30

The RidgeYaks lose back-to-back games to start the six-game series against the Warbirds, this time falling just short 2-1.

Jason Gilman was the story for most of the game; it was unfortunate that Salem’s bats could not get going. Gilman was absolutely dominant in his start, throwing six innings of two-hit shutout ball with 10 strikeouts and no walks. He kept Wilson completely off balance for more than half the game, giving Salem every opportunity to build on a slim lead.

Salem scratched across their lone run in the sixth. Louis Andujar reached base on a throwing error from Wilson’s pitcher, Adonys Guzman singled him over to third, then Frederik Jimenez lined an RBI single to make it 1–0. It wasm't much, but with the way the pitching was going, it felt like it could be enough.

The game flipped in the eighth. Jay Allmer relieved the seventh and got out of the inning with no damage, then came back in the eighth and immediately lost the strike zone, walking his first batter. Wuilliams Rodriguez entered and things got worse, failing to field the ball cleanly, putting two runners on, then a single loaded the bases with one out. A bases-loaded walk tied the game 1–1, then an RBI groundout was all Wilson needed to get a 2–1 lead.

The offense never gave the pitching staff any margin for error. Salem managed five hits and just one run on the night. Adonys Guzman was the only RidgeYaks player with multiple hits, collecting two of the five hits. They drew six walks, showing the plate discipline, but couldn't string anything together with RISP, going 2-for-13. 

Standout Performances:

• Jason Gilman: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 10 K
• Adonys Guzman: 2-for-3, 2B, BB

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