4/27 MiLB Gameday: Rubby, Trey and Henry

[Cuzittt]

Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Rubby de la Rosa) @ Lehigh Valley (David Buchanan) [1:35 pm]
EL: Portland (Henry Owens) vs. Trenton (Graham Stoneburner)[1:05pm]
CL:Salem (TBD) vs. Winston-Salem (JB Wendelken) [4:05pm]
SAL: Greenville (Trey Ball) vs. Lexington (Cody Reed) [7:05pm]
NYPL: Lowell - Opening Day - June 13th vs. Vermont
GCL: GCL Sox - Opening Day - June 20th vs GCL Twins
DSL: DSL Sox - Opening Day - May 31st

Notes:

Mookie Betts has reached safely in 48 consecutive regular season games. He has reached safely in 53 consecutive games (including playoffs).


Scoreboard:

Boston Red Sox Minor League Scores

Media:

MiLB TV
MiLB Radio

Local Media:

Pawsox:

Providence Journal
Pawtucket Times

Seadogs: Portland Press Herald

Salem: Roanoke Times

Greenville: Greenville Online

Lowell: Lowell Sun

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Owens getting rocked early

 

[Manzivino]

Mookie with an RBI double in the 3rd to continue his streak.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Rubby having a rough outing as well

 

[nvalvo]

Owens getting rocked early

 
I watched this game from a seat behind the plate. I'm hardly a scout, but here are some impressions:  
 
Owens had an interesting game. He had poor command of the fastball, either missing wide or catching too much of the plate, and while he drew a few swings and misses on the change, mostly the Thunder were getting ahead, sitting on the fastball and jumping all over it. The curve was not competitive, as Owens rarely threw it for strikes and the Thunder had no problem laying off it. He had notably better command after the three-run, thirty-pitch first, and got better results, but it was a struggle. 
 
Before the game, I had wondered if he could succeed with just the plus change up, but now I don't think he'll be able to. He needs to improve his fastball command. He'll always give up his share of hits on the fastball, but on days when he can't keep it down, he'll give up a ton of them. The curve could also help with this: a bit of improvement there would help him keep hitters from sitting dead red when ahead in the count. 
 
Stoneburner threw a bunch of junk, and while it got him through the Sea Dogs order once, after they got a sense of his repertoire, everyone started squaring him up. A quick hook by the Trenton manager basically won the game, 6-5. 

 

[radsoxfan]

In the one game I saw Owens pitch in spring training, I was pretty disappointed in his curveball. Looked like a well below average pitch. Poor control of it, slow, looping. Hitters had zero trouble laying off outside the strike zone, and pounded the hangers. 
 
He needs the fastball command to improve since he is a mostly two pitch guy right now. If he does that, he reminds me a bit of Cole Hamels.  If he doesn't, he's gonna get hit hard as he gets to higher levels. 

 

[SouthernBoSox]

His curve is a loopy spinner that he can throw for strikes.

It isn't a major league caliber pitch. I think he needs to develop a slider if he's going to reach his ceiling, which I think is very high.

 

[soxhop411]

D“@Hannable84: Final line for 2013 Red Sox first rounder Trey Ball in his first professional start with Single-A Greenville: 5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.”

 

[Cuzittt]

Portland loses 6-5.

Boxscore

Henry Owens went 5 innings, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits (1 HR) and 3 walks; striking out 4. Jose Valdez went 3 innings, giving up s hit and a walk; striking out one. Michael Olmsted pitched the final inning, striking out one.

Shannon Wilkerson went 2/4. Henry Ramos and Heiker Meneses each went 1/3 with a walk. Travis Shaw, Stefan Welch, Blake Swihart and Derrik Gibson each went 1/4; Shaw with a double, Gibson with a CS. Mookie Betts went 1/5 with a double. Deven Marrero went 0/3 with a walk.

 

[Cuzittt]

Pawsox lose 9-7.

Boxscore

Rubby de la Rosa went 5 innings, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits, 3 walks and 2 WPs; striking out 4. Chris Hernandez went 3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks; striking out one.

Bryce Brentz went 2/3 with a double, triple, SF and HBP. Ryan Lavarnway went 2/4 with a double and a HBP. Corey Brown went 2/4 with a HR. Daniel Nava went 2/5 with a HR. Dan Butler went 1/2 with 2 walks before being pinch-run for by Justin Henry who stayed in the game and went 0/1. Brock Holt went 1/4 with a walk. Ryan Roberts and Garin Cecchini each went 1/5. Alex Hassan went 0/4 with a walk.

 

[Cuzittt]

Salem loses 15-9.

Boxscore

Luis Diaz went 3 2/3 innings, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits (1 HR), a WP and 4 walks; striking out 4. Austin Maddox went 3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits (1 HR) and a walk; striking out 2. Madison Younginer got 2 outs, allowing 6 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks (and a Balk). Dayan Diaz went 1 2/3 innings, allowing a run on 4 hits while striking out one.

Dreily Guerrero went 2/2 after replacing David Chester who went 1/3 with a double. Reed Gragnani went 2/4 with a double and a walk. Aneury Tavarez went 2/4 with a double and a CS. Tim Roberson went 1/3 with a walk. Matty Johnson went 1/4 with a double and a walk. Ryan Dent went 1/4 with a double and a sacrifice. Mario Martinez went 1/4 with a HR. Carson Blair and Kevin Heller each went 1/5; Blair with a double.

 

[Cuzittt]

Drive decide to be different and win... 21-6.

Boxscore

Trey Ball went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits and a walk; striking out 2. Sergio Gomez went the final 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, 4 walks and 3 WPs; striking out 4.

Jimmy Rider went 3/3 with a double, 2 walks and a HBP. Jake Romanski went 4/5 with 2 doubles and a SF. Jantzen Witte went 3/4 with a double and 3 walks. Kevin Mager went 3/7 with a double. Bo Greenwell went 2/3 with a walk and a SF before being replaced by Zach Kapstein who went 1/1 with a walk. Carlos Asuaje went 2/3 with a double, HBP, 3 walks and a SB. Manuel Margot went 2/6 with a walk and a SB. Tzu-Wei Lin went 2/7 with a double. Wendell Rijo went 1/4 with 2 walks.

That would be 23 hits (7 doubles), 13 walks and 2 HBPs. All 10 players reached base at least twice.

 

[Cuzittt]

STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Lehigh Valley scored five runs in the third inning against Rubby De La Rosa on only two hits and the Iron Pigs held off a late Pawtucket rally for a 9-7 win over the PawSox Sunday afternoon in the second of a four-game series at Coca-Cola Park.

Daniel Nava and Corey Brown homered for Pawtucket (14-11), which collected 17 baserunners (12 hits and five walks) but stranded 11 men including six in scoring position. De La Rosa (1-1), who had allowed only three total runs over his first four starts, permitted six runs in five innings on Sunday.

With Pawtucket holding a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the third, the Iron Pigs loaded the bases with none out on shortstop Brock Holt's fielding error and consecutive walks by De La Rosa to Clete Thomas and Steve Susdorf.

Maikel Franco then reached on an RBI fielder's choice that plated the tying run. The play was nearly a 6-4-3 double play but first baseman Ryan Lavarnway was ruled to have pulled his foot off the bag before he took the relay throw, leaving runners on the corners.

Reid Brignac followed with an RBI single that scored Thomas and give Lehigh Valley the lead. The next batter was Jim Murphy who lined a two-run double into left, plating both Franco and Brignac and making the score 5-2. Murphy moved to third on the throw to the plate, then scored the fifth run of the inning on Tyler Henson's ground out.

Brown's second home run of the season on the first pitch from David Buchanan (3-0) highlighted Pawtucket's two-run fifth inning rally. Lavarnway singled home a run later in the inning to bring the PawSox within 6-4, but Sebastian Valle's sacrifice fly in the sixth against Chris Hernandez put Lehigh Valley back in front by three.

Nava homered with one out in the seventh against reliever Brad Lincoln, then consecutive doubles by Lavarnway and Bryce Brentz made the score 7-6. But after the PawSox stranded three total on base in the seventh and eighth, Valle delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to put the Iron Pigs ahead 9-6.

Pawtucket plated a two-out run in the ninth against Lehigh Valley closer Luis Garcia when Garcia dropped a throw covering first base on Brown's infield single. But with the tying runners on base, Garcia got Justin Henry to ground out and finish his third save of the season.

SEADOGS

Boxscore

Top Red Sox pitching prospect Henry Owens experienced his first loss this season as the Trenton Thunder topped the Portland Sea Dogs 6-5 Sunday afternoon at Hadlock Field.

Owens (3-1) gave up six runs over five innings. He allowed nine hits and three walks, while striking out four. His ERA rose to 3.77.

The Sea Dogs rallied, but never caught the Thunder.

Mookie Betts and Travis Shaw both had RBI doubles. Derrik Gibson singled in two runs.

Portland (13-7) still leads the Eastern League East Division by a half-game over Trenton (14-9).

SALEM

Boxscore

Joey DeMichele reached base six times, Courtney Hawkins launched another home run, and the visiting Dash erupted for 15 runs on 17 hits in a 15-9 triumph over the Salem Sox on Sunday night. Scoring in six different innings and drilling the Sox with a seven-run eighth after Salem had narrowed the gap to within two, Winston won its second straight game for just the second time this season.

For the third time this year, former Sox prospect J.B. Wendelken got the better of his old teammates. Wendelken, who was traded from Boston to Chicago last July in the Jake Peavy deal, improved to 3-0 against Salem so far in 2014, receiving plenty of run support to bolster his pursuit. While the Sox scored four runs on eight hits against Wendelken over six innings, the Dash righty struck out six and shut the Sox down after a bumpy three-run first.

Winston scored one in the first, one in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, two in the seventh, and seven more in the eighth, delivering a larger offensive punch than in any other game thus far in 2014. DeMichele, who had just 10 hits in his first 18 games of the season and entered at .167, went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a homer, and a walk, scoring five times. Four other Dash batters drove in multiple runs, with Grant Buckner finishing with three RBI, while Hawkins, Keon Barnum, and Martin Medina each plated a pair. Hawkins also crushed his fifth homer in nine games against the Red Sox this year.

The Sox offense also came to play, connecting for nine runs on 13 hits, but competed from behind for most of the contest. Although Salem led 3-1 after the first inning, the Dash quickly countered, taking a 4-3 lead in the third. Reed Gragnani led the Red Sox with two hits and two RBI, while Mario Martinez belted his second homer of the homestand, a two-run opposite field shot in the eighth inning. Matty Johnson went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.

Luis Diaz suffered the loss, getting knocked around for six runs (five earned) on seven hits over three and two-thirds innings. Austin Maddox, Madison Younginer, and Dayan Diaz all gave up runs in relief, with Younginer struggling over two-thirds of an inning, in which he surrendered six runs.

With Younginer on the mound and men at first and third in the top of the eighth, home plate umpire Ben Levin signaled a balk on the Red Sox righthander. As the runners both advanced, Salem Manager Carlos Febles emerged from the dugout to argue, eventually resulting in his ejection, his first of the season.

DRIVE

Boxscore

The Greenville Drive (13-8) ended their 7-game homestand with a bang on Sunday afternoon, pounding out 23 hits in a 21-6 romp over the Lexington Legends (11-13) before a crowd of 5,766. The 21 runs sets a Drive franchise record for most runs in a game, besting the 20 runs the Drive scored at Lexington on May 17, 2006.

The Drive didn't waste any time running away with the victory, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first against Lexington's Cody Reed (0-1). The lead was 2-0 after three batters thanks to Jantzen Witte's two-run double to right. Manuel Margot's single scored another, and a Lexington error brought home another. To add on, Jimmy Rider lined an RBI single to left, and Bo Greenwell, who led off the inning, delivered a sacrifice fly.

As if batting around in the first inning wasn't enough, the Drive did it two more times. They pulled it off in a five-run fifth inning thanks to RBI singles by Witte and Kevin Mager, bases loaded walks to Carlos Asuaje and Rider, and a sacrifice fly by Jake Romanski.

A seven-run seventh piled on to the offensive numbers. Rider collected a one-out RBI double and Witte drew a bases loaded walk before a Lexington pitching change. The Drive rudely greeted the new arm with four consecutive run-scoring hits. Mager laced a two-run single to center, Asuaje lined an RBI double to left, Margot singled to right to score a run, and Romanski doubled off the left-center wall.

The offensive outburst overshadowed the 2014 debut of Trey Ball (1-0), Boston's first round pick (seventh overall) in last summer's draft. He threw five innings, allowing nine hits, three runs and one walk while striking out two to record his first professional victory.

All three runs Ball allowed came in the second inning after RBI hits by Frank Schwindel and Chad Johnson and an RBI groundout by Humberto Arteaga.

Romanski smoked a two-run double to center in the fourth to score a pair of runs and extend the Drive lead at that time to 8-3.