Red Sox Minor League Report: WooSox Lose Third Straight In Trevor Story’s First Rehab Appearance

Let’s see how the Boston Red Sox's farm fared in series finales across the organization. 

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox

Series vs. Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays): 2-4
Season Record: 62-53

The WooSox fell in the series finale in a rough start for the pitching staff. 

John Holobetz took the mound in hopes of ending Worcester’s two-game skid, but exited with his head hanging low after a disastrous performance. Holobetz allowed six runs on six hits in just 2⅔ innings as Buffalo got to him early. Holobetz issued two walks and struck out four before turning the ball over to Devin Sweet in the third inning. Sweet wasn’t much better, allowing three runs on three hits in just one inning of work. He walked two and struck out one before Hobie Harris was called in to finish the fourth frame. Harris steadied the ship for the pitching staff in a 1⅓ inning appearance, allowing two hits and striking out one before Seth Martinez entered. Martinez took the sixth and seventh innings, allowing two hits and notching a pair of punchouts in a scoreless outing. With the bullpen depleted, manager Iggy Suarez turned to first baseman Nathan Hickey for the final two innings of Sunday’s game. Hickey was excellent, allowing three hits but closing the game in shutout fashion. 

Trevor Story returned to the diamond for the first time since mid-May, playing in the first four innings of Sunday’s matchup before being replaced. Story went 1-for-2 with a single and a popup following a nine-pitch at-bat. Facing an early nine-run deficit, Mikey Romero got the WooSox on the board with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, scoring Story. Franklin Arias would strike next for Worcester, scoring Jason Delay on an RBI single in the fifth inning. Arias would score one more in the seventh inning as he drove in Brett Harris on a sac fly in the seventh inning. Tsung-Che Cheng scored Delay in the seventh as Worcester slowly closed the gap. Delay launched a solo homer in the ninth inning in hopes of sparking a late rally, but he was unsuccessful as the WooSox couldn’t generate any more late offense. 

Double-A Portland Sea Dogs

Series vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets): 1-5
Season Record: 58-55

A rough night from the bullpen led to Portland’s sixth loss in eight games as the Sea Dogs struggles continued.

Reidis Sena started Sunday’s game, but exited after just ⅔ of an inning. Sena let up a home run and issued one walk, recording one strikeout before being replaced by Morgan McSweeney. McSweeney’s second appearance with Portland was a rough one as he gave up four runs on four hits in 2⅓ innings pitched. McSweeney issued a pair of walks and struck out two more before Max Carlson took over in the fourth. Carlson pitched one frame of one-run ball, allowing two hits and issuing a walk as he struck out another. Caleb Bolden took on a bulk relief role as he entered in the fifth inning. Across three innings Bolden let up just one hit as he struck out five of the ten batters he faced. Joe Vogatsky entered in a tie game, but let up two quick runs as Binghamton took a late two-run lead. Vogatsky finished with a line of two runs on two hits in two innings. He issued a pair of walks and struck out one in the loss.

The Sea Dogs were able to generate six runs on just four hits, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Rumble Ponies. Henry Godbout led the way with a pair of RBIs as he continued to adjust to Double-A competition since being called up from High-A Greenville before the series. Will Turner struck first for Portland, driving in Johanfran Garcia on a single in the second inning. Nate Baez drove in Mason White to complete the two-run inning and tie the game. Baez was called up to Triple-A Worcester following Sunday’s game. In the third, Godbout gave Portland a short-lived lead as he drove in Brooks Brannon and Tyler McDonough on a line drive single in the third inning. In the fifth, Brannon cut into the two-run lead with an RBI groundout as McDonough scored. Jack Winnay gave Portland its final run of the afternoon on a game-tying home run in the seventh inning, his sixth of the season. The tie wouldn’t last long, as Binghamton took the lead just a half-inning later and didn’t look back.

High-A Greenville Drive

Series @ Hub City Spartanburgers (Texas Rangers): 3-3
Season Record: 50-61

Greenville was the lone affiliate team to win on Sunday, clinching a 10-5 win to secure the series split.

Matt Duffy started the series finale for Greenville, turning in a solid three-inning performance. Duffy allowed one run on a pair of hits as he issued a walk and struck out one before Alex Bouchard took over. Bouchard earned the win for his four-inning relief role. He allowed three runs on five hits and issued two walks. Bouchard struck out four before Brandon Neely got the call in the bullpen. Neely was solid as he closed out the win for the Drive. He allowed one run on one hit as he struck out a pair of Hub City batters.

To say that Sunday’s offensive performance was excellent would be an understatement. Led by Justin Gonzales’s first career multi-homer day, the Drive scored ten times on fourteen hits in a sustained performance. In the second inning, Carlos Gutierrez crossed home as Yophery Rodriguez reached via error, giving Greenville an early lead that it wouldn’t relinquish. In the third, Owen Hull scored Gonzales on a fly ball double as Gerardo Rodriguez advanced to third. In the fourth, Y. Rodriguez made his mark yet again. He launched a homer to right center, his 14th of the season. With runners on the corners later in the inning, Jake Schaffner hit a ball between the infield gap as Antonio Anderson scored easily. Then with the bases loaded, Gutierrez drove home G. Rodriguez and Schaffner on a single right up the middle, giving Greenville a 6-0 lead. In the sixth, Gonzales clubbed his first homer of the night, going the opposite way on a ball that was absolutely demolished over the right field wall. An inning later, Anderson brought the lead to four on an RBI single that scored Maximus Martin before Gonzales stepped to the plate once more. Gonzales proceeded to smoke a line drive homer to left center as Anderson crossed home, capping off the ten-run game. Gonzales was promoted to Double-A Portland following the game.

Low-A Salem RidgeYaks

Series @ Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles): 2-4
Season Record: 49-63

Another poor start and less than timely offense led to Salem’s second straight loss.

After posting a 1.56 ERA in the month of July, Jose Bello has struggled in August. His last three starts have been less than ideal as his ERA rests at 9.24 for the month. He entered Sunday’s start looking to turn things around, but failed to do so. Bello completed four innings, and pitched to two batters in the fifth before being pulled. He allowed six runs on eight hits and walked a season-high five batters, more than he allowed in the months of June and April. He struck out just one batter before Nicholas Judice took over. Judice’s second appearance back from injury went much better than his first as he allowed one run and issued one walk while striking out three in 1⅔ innings. Caden Vire took over at the end of the sixth, allowing one hit and walking two over 1⅓ frames of work. He struck out a pair before Harry Blum took the ninth inning. Blum allowed one final run and issued one walk in the ninth, striking out two as he completed the game.

Multi-hit games from Kleyver Salazar and Josue Brito kept Salem afloat despite the loss. Brito gave Salem an early lead as he scored Franklin Primera on an RBI double in the first inning. Primera scored again in the third by way of a balk, tying the game at 2-2. In the fourth, Adonys Guzman tied the game again, this time by scoring Andrews Opata on a sac fly. Down by four in the seventh, Salazar cut the lead in half as he homered on a deep ball to left field, scoring Primera for the third time in the afternoon.

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