Red Sox Minor League Report: Two Affiliates Take Victories, Including an Extra-Inning Battle for the WooSox

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (June 9)

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Season Record: 33-28

The WooSox pulled out an extra-innings 6-5 victory over the Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals).

The Worcester Red Sox climbed out of a three-run hole and won it in the tenth inning on the road. The WooSox spent most of the night chasing, but a late power surge and a little help from the bullpen flipped the game.

After a scoreless start through the first four innings, Rochester broke through with a solo homer in the fifth. That was the only run Jack Anderson gave up in his solid start, tossing six innings, giving up just one run on three hits with six strikeouts. Worcester answered in the seventh when Kristian Campbell worked a walk, then came around to score on a Jason Delay single to tie it 1-1, but the Red Wings responded immediately in the bottom half with a two-run shot, then tacked on another run with a solo blast in the eighth to extend their lead to 4-1. 

Then came the turning point. Allan Castro reached base thanks to a throwing error from the pitcher, and Tsung-Che Cheng drew a walk to put two runners on in the top of the ninth with two outs. Matt Lloyd was the next man up and was hitless so far in the game; that hitless game was ended after he crushed a clutch three-run homer to tie the game 4-4. Wyatt Olds came into the game in the bottom half and had a three-up and three-down inning, forcing extras.

In the tenth, Worcester pushed across the go-ahead runs: With the bases juiced, Tyler McDonough scored on a Matt Thaiss double play, then Campbell delivered an RBI single to bring home Braiden Ward, putting the WooSox up 6-4. Noah Song came in for the bottom half with the hopes of closing it out, Rochester scratched one back but thankfully, stranded the tying run. Song earned his second save of the season as Worcester escaped with the 6-5 win. 

Standout Performances:

• Jack Anderson: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 K
• Wyatt Olds: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K
• Matt Lloyd: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Season Record: 29-28

The Portland Sea Dogs jumped out early but couldn't hold on, dropping a 7-5 decision at Reading (Philadelphia Phillies).

Boston's Double-A club out-hit the Fightin Phils 10 to 7, yet one swing from the other dugout decided the night. Portland struck first with three runs in the top of the first. Franklin Arias led the game off with a single, and Will Turner followed with a walk to put two on with no outs. Arias scored on a Brooks Brannon ground-rule double, then Turner came home on a Johanfran Garcia single, and Brannon scored on a Marvin Alcantara sacrifice fly for an early 3-0 lead. In the bottom half, Arias made a tough throwing error that later led to Reading scoring a run on an RBI single, putting the game at 3-1.

The Red Sox star prospect Anthony Eyanson had a very weird outing. He had one unearned run (Arias' error) while throwing five walks and four strikeouts in his 2 ⅔ innings of work. His command was way off compared to usual, especially since he has not walked batters much this season, throwing only 37 of his 68 pitches for strikes. His fastball velocity was down from usual as well, sitting around 91-93 MPH. It was noted that he seemed to focus on throwing his curveball on two strikes; unfortunately, his command was lacking.

The game completely flipped in the fourth; the Fightin Phils unloaded a grand slam to right-center, putting them ahead 5-3. Reading struck again in the eighth inning with a two-run homer, stretching the lead to 7- 3. Portland mounted a ninth-inning push: a Caden Rose lead-off solo homer and an RBI groundout from Nate Baez gave the Sea Dogs a little hope, pulling them within two, but that was not enough as they suffered a 7-5 defeat. 

Outside of Arias, Brannon, and Garcia, who combined for eight of the team's 10 hits, Portland's lineup could not produce many hits when it mattered most.

Portland had a ton of chances to put runs on the board with runners in scoring position, but they could not string together hits in the big spots, going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Another recipe for disaster is the four errors the Sea Dogs committed: one error led to a run, and another to the grand slam that ultimately cost them the game.

Standout Performances:

• Franklin Arias: 3-for-5, 2B, R
• Brooks Brannon: 3-for-5, 2B, R, RBI
• Johanfran Garcia: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
• Caden Rose: 1-for-3, HR, R, RBI

High-A Greenville Drive

Season Record: 23-32

The Greenville Drive trailed three separate times but finally grabbed the lead for an 8-7 win over the Winston-Salem Dash (Chicago White Sox).

The Dash jumped on the Drive’s starter Devin Futrell early, a two-run single in the first and a two-run homer in the second made it 4-0, putting Greenville in a hole. The Drive struck right back in the bottom of the second with two two-run homers. Luke Heyman drew a walk, setting up Isaiah Jackson to launch his ninth homer of the year. Jack Winnay followed up with a single to keep the line moving. It was Ronny Hernandez's turn at the plate as he clobbered a two-run homer, his fifth in 13 games, tying it up 4-4.

From there, both teams scored, but it stayed tight for a few innings. Winston-Salem nudged ahead with a solo homer in the third inning, 5-4. Greenville tied it again, 5-5, in the fourth on a Hernandez RBI single after Mason White hit a double, then the Dash pushed the lead further out in front, 7-5, in the fifth inning with an RBI single and groundout.

Greenville owned the seventh: Hernandez and Justin Gonzales led off the inning with back-to-back singles, putting two runners aboard with no outs for Enddy Azocar. Like he has been doing all year (hitting extra-base hits), he roped a double down left field, bringing home two runs to put the Drive one run short of tying it. Yoeilin Cespedes showed he has ice in his veins as he delivered the go-ahead two-run single to make it 8-7. 

Calvin Bickerstaff was the MVP of the pitching staff, slamming the door with 2 ⅔ scoreless no-hit innings with three strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the season.

Standout Performances:

• Calvin Bickerstaff: 2 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 IP, 1 BB, 3 K
• Yoeilin Cespedes: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
• Ronny Hernandez: 3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
• Enddy Azocar: 1-for-4, 2B, R, RBI
• Isaiah Jackson: 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Season Record: 24-34

The RidgeYaks almost completed an incredible comeback, falling just short 7-6 to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros).

Salem dug an early hole, starter Jason Gilman lasted just two innings, surrendering six runs (three earned) on a rough couple of innings that included three costly errors from catcher Adonys Guzman, one of which allowed two runs to score on one play in the first inning, putting the Woodpeckers up 2-0. The second inning was more detrimental: a lead-off homer, an RBI double, and another bad throw from Guzman on a steal attempt led to another run, 5-0. The frustrating second inning got worse when Gilman balked, leading to one more run to cross the plate, extending the Woodpeckers' lead to 6-0. 

Fayetteville pushed it to 7-0 in the fourth inning with an RBI single, digging Salem in a massive hole to make the game a potential laugher.

After tallying just one hit through five innings, the RidgeYaks offense came out of nowhere. Salem drew walk after walk: Louis Andujar, Avinson Pinto, and D'Angelo Ortiz all worked bases-loaded RBI walks. Afterward, Ilan Fernandez lined a two-run single to make it 7-5. They added one more in the ninth when Andrews Opata singled home Stanley Tucker to make it 7-6, but the rally ended there, unfortunately.

Knowing that the RidgeYaks came up one run short in a 7-6 game, while the offense finally woke up, but some bad throws helped the other team, makes this defeat even more frustrating.

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