4/6 MiLB Gameday: Your Undefeated Salem Red Sox

Cuzittt

Bouncing with Anger
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Nov 20, 2001
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Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Jeremy Kehrt) vs. Lehigh Valley (Jonathan Pettibone) [1:05pm]
EL: Portland (Mike Augliera) @ Reading (Perci Garner) [1:35pm]
CL:Salem (Corey Littrell) @ Myrtle Beach (Sam Wolff) [3:05pm]
SAL: Greenville (Teddy Stankiewicz) @ Kannapolis (Sean Bierman) [5:05pm]
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:

Salem has won 14 straight games dating back to last year. They last lost August 28th. With 2 more wins, they will tie a 64 year old Carolina League Record for consecutive wins.

Salem is 33-8 since July 30th 2013.

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
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
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Reading gets to Mike Augliera for 4 ER in the b2nd as leadoff hitter, 2B Carlos Alonso, drills a 3-run HR. The Sea Dogs have countered with single runs in the t3rd (Marrero RBI single) & t4th (Spring RBI double).
 

mabrowndog

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PawSox strike for 3 in the b2nd on a pair of RBI singles by Cecchini & Meneses and a Corey Brown sac fly. Lehigh Valley ties it in the t3rd off Jeremy Kehrt (ROE, single, 2-run double, WP, RBI grounder), then take the lead with 2 off lefty Tommy Layne in the t6th on a Reid Brignac triple and a Cameron Rupp HR. 
 

Plympton91

bubble burster
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Oct 19, 2008
12,408
For all the well deserved ragging on Salem's prospect void, Portland is only a little better. You've got Betts, Swihart, Marerro, and Owens. Then maybe Coyle, Ramos, Pena, and Ramirez, but after that its all organizational filler. And last years top pick could make a full season roster, while the second pick out of JuCo only made Greenville. Not great.
 

Merkle's Boner

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Apr 24, 2011
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Plympton91 said:
For all the well deserved ragging on Salem's prospect void, Portland is only a little better. You've got Betts, Swihart, Marerro, and Owens. Then maybe Coyle, Ramos, Pena, and Ramirez, but after that its all organizational filler. And last years top pick could make a full season roster, while the second pick out of JuCo only made Greenville. Not great.
You've got 3 of the top 100 prospects in baseball. It's actually a stacked team, and Keith Law last week named them one of the top teams to follow if you're into prospects.
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/post?id=2223
 

Cuzittt

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Pawsox lose 5-4.

Boxscore

Jeremy Kehrt went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits, a WP and 2 walks; striking out 4. Tommy Layne went 2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits (1 HR) while striking out 3. Dalier Hinojosa went 2 innings, walking one and striking out 2.

Heiker Meneses went 2/3 with a walk. Christian Vazquez went 2/4 with a double. Brandon Snyder and Garin Cecchini each went 1/3 with a walk; Snyder with a double. Alex Hassan went 1/4 with a double. Corey Brown went 0/3 with a SF. Ryan Lavarnway went 0/3 with a HBP. Bryce Brentz went 0/4. Mike McCoy went 0/5.
 

Cuzittt

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Seadogs lose 4-3.

Boxscore

Mike Augliera went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits (1 HR) and a walk; striking out 2. Robby Scott went 2 innings, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Stefan Welch went 2/3 with a double and a walk. Matt Spring went 1/3 with a double and a SF. Mookie Betts, Deven Marrero, Henry Ramos and Shannon Wilkerson each went 1/4. Derrik Gibson went 0/2 with a walk. Bo Greenwell and Travis Shaw each went 0/4.
 

Cuzittt

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Salem wins their 15th straight (a franchise record), winning 3-0.

Boxscore

Corey Littrell went 4 2/3 innings, giving up 3 hits, 3 walks and a WP; striking out 8. Simon Mercedes went 3 1/3 innings, giving up 2 hits and a HBP; striking out 4. Madison Younginer went an inning, giving up a hit and a HBP; striking out 2.

Matty Johnson went 2/5. Mario Martinez and Reed Gragnani each went 1/3 with a walk; Martinez with a double, Gragnani with a CS. Matt Gedman and Aneury Tavarez each went 1/4; Gedman with a double. Jonathan Roof went 0/3 with 2 walks. Ryan Dent and Dreily Guerrero each went 0/3 with a walk. Carson Blair went 0/5.
 

Cuzittt

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Drive lose 8-5.

Boxscore

Teddy Stankiewicz went 4 innings, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits (2 HRs) and a walk. Joe Gunkel went 3 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits (1 HR); striking out 2. Mike Adams pitched an inning, striking out 4 and throwing a WP.

Tim Roberson went 3/5 with a HR. Kevin Mager went 2/4 with a HR and a walk. Manuel Margot went 2/4 with a double. Jake Romanski went 2/5. Jordan Weems went 1/3 with a walk. Jimmy Rider went 1/4 with a HBP. Wendell Rijo went 1/4. Carlos Asuaje went 1/5. Zach Kapstein went 0/4.
 
Jul 10, 2002
4,279
Behind
Again2004 said:
 Simon Mercedes, one of the biggest sleeper prospect, had impressive performance.
 
Yeah, in case people missed it, Alex Speier gave him a short write-up a few weeks back: http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/03/25/buzz-from-the-backfields-red-sox-pitching-prospect-simon-mercedes-dazzles/
 


The 22-year-old ... turned in a commanding performance, mixing in a 95-96 mph fastball with a nasty swing-and-miss changeup that featured late dive away from left-handed hitters. While rain shortened the day, Mercedes’ performance was head-turning, as he elicited swings and misses on nine of his 25 pitches.
 


In Mercedes’ prior outing, he’d worked at 95-100 mph (yes, one of his fastballs reached triple digits) while displaying a standout curveball.
 


But it turned out that the massive right-hander had an injury in the tip of his right middle finger that, while not serious enough to stop him from pitching, hindered his curveball grip. With that injury seemingly healed, Mercedes has shown a power three-pitch mix this spring that could rekindle the possibility of remaining a long-term starter.
 
After that write-up, I was expecting an Adopt-A-Prospect thread any day now!
 

Cuzittt

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STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

It was just the first of 40 series, the first four games of the 144 contests they will play over the course of the marathon that is the International League baseball season. So all in all, Pawtucket Red Sox manager Kevin Boles says he is “very pleased” with what his team has shown him so far.

“Both teams were very competitive. I thought it was well-played by both clubs,” the PawSox’ first-year skipper said following a 5-4 loss to Lehigh Valley on Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium. “I’m very happy with our offense.

“With our pitching we saw some good things out there, guys with quality stuff. I think if we can just have better command of the zone more consistently — I think our walk totals were a little bit up early on in the series. We were a little bit inconsistent at the plate to start the series, and now we’re starting to see the offense getting into a rhythm.”

The PawSox, who banged out 10 hits apiece in their victories on Friday and Saturday, capitalized on four hits and a couple of wild pitches to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning of Sunday’s game, played before a crowd of 3,073.

Brandon Snyder got things going with his double down the left-field line, then scored from second on Garin Cecchini’s liner up the middle.

Cecchini advanced to second on a wild pitch, to third on Christian Vazquez’ single to right, then scored on Corey Brown’s sacrifice fly to deep right.

After Vazquez advanced to second on another wild pitch by Lehigh starter Jonathan Pettibone, Heiker Meneses brought him home with a single to center to make it 3-0.

After opening his first start of the season by retiring six of the first seven batters he faced, Pawtucker starter Jeremy Kehrt hit a snag, as the IronPigs quickly evened things up with three runs in the top half of the third.

Leandro Castro ended up on second to start the inning when Cecchini overthrew first on Castro’s grounder. Tyler Henson followed with a single, and a shot down the right-field line by Clete Thomas rolled all the way to the corner, allowing both Castro and Henson to score.

Thomas, who legged out a double on his hit, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Ronny Cedeno’s groundout to short.

“We led off the inning with an error and it just seemed that Kehrt elevated the ball just a little bit in the zone,” Boles said. “But I thought his outing for the most part was pretty good. He pitched down in the zone for the most part, just had the one hiccup in the third, and again, he gave us five quality innings.”
SEADOGS

Game Story

“After a couple more games, a couple more weeks, we’ll probably have a clearer idea of what our team is capable of,” he said. “We had four competitive ballgames here. We happened to win two of them.

“I don’t think this is anything to hang our heads down, these last two losses. One pitch, one swing we could’ve easily won this game and challenged in yesterday’s (Saturday’s) game.”

The prospect-laden Sea Dogs looked like world-beaters the first two nights, getting an Opening Day no-hitter from Henry Owens and a 4-1 win in the follow-up.

They ran into some tough pitching the past two days and head to Trenton with a .500 record – and a share of first place in the Eastern Division, where all six teams split their opening-week assignments.

Reading second baseman Carlos Alonso staked the Phils to a 4-0 lead with a three-run homer off Sea Dogs starter Mike Augliera in the second, and that was enough for Phils right-hander Perci Garner.

Garner scattered five hits over six strong innings and struck out six, using an effective change-up to record a couple of those whiffs. He got designated hitter Stefan Welch to swing through one in the fourth.

“It was a good pitch,” said Welch, who reached base in his other three trips with a walk, single and double. “It was moving pretty good, and pretty tough to pick up.”

Three relievers made the 4-3 lead stand up after Garner departed. Right-hander Ken Giles, the last of those, picked up his second save by striking out the side on 15 pitches in the ninth. The last one, a 101 mph fastball, caught Bo Greenwell looking.

The Sea Dogs scratched away at Garner’s early lead, getting single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

Deven Marrero earned an RBI with an infield single in the fourth and Matt Spring had an RBI double in the fourth.

Welch hit a drive off the top of the fence in right-center to open the sixth, but the ball caromed back into playing territory for a double. Welch scored from third on Spring’s sacrifice fly.
SALEM

Game Story

Three Salem pitchers — Corey Littrell, Simon Mercedes and Madison Younginer — combined to shut out the Pelicans on Sunday in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to complete the four-game season-opening sweep for the Red Sox.

The win was Salem’s 15th in a row stretching back to Aug. 28, 2013. It is the longest winning streak in Salem franchise history and is tied with the 1959 Raleigh Capitals for the second longest the Carolina League history.

The league’s longest-ever streak is 16, won by the Winston-Salem Cardinals in 1950.
DRIVE

Game Story

Kannapolis used a four-run fifth inning to rally from a 4-1 deficit and the Intimidators went on to an 8-5 win over Greenville Sunday as the teams split the season-opening four-game series.

Kevin Mager gave the Drive a 1-0 lead in the second on his first home run of the season, and Jimmy Ryder’s two-run single in the fourth pushed the lead to 3-0.

After Kannapolis’ Danny Hayes led off the bottom of the fourth with a homer, Greenville answered with an RBI-single from Manuel Margot in the fifth.

But the Intimidators came back in a big way in the bottom of the fifth as Adam Engel’s three-run homer put Kannapolis up for good at 5-4.

A hit batter and single brought the potential tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth for Greenville, but Kannapolis reliever Jake Sanchez struck out Tim Roberson and Mager to earn his second save.

Roberson led the Drive with three hits, including his first homer, and two runs.

Greenville starter Teddy Stankiewicz (0-1) allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits in four innings to take the loss.

Drive reliever Mike Adams had four strikeouts in one scoreless inning as a wild pitch on one allowed Kannapolis’ Zach Voight to reach first.