5/9 MiLB Gameday: Early is better than Late

[Cuzittt]

Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Allen Webster) @ Louisville (Chad Reineke) [6:35pm]
EL: Portland (Brian Johnson) vs. New Hampshire (Deck McGuire)[6:05pm]
CL:Salem (Luis Diaz) vs. Carolina (DJ Brown) [7:05pm]
SAL: Greenville (Trey Ball) vs. Greensboro (Domingo German) [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 60 consecutive regular season games. He has reached safely in 65 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

 

[Cuzittt]

It is now this day.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Mookie 0/2 so far.  This one could get tense.

 

[topps148]

No problem. Mookie walks in the fourth.

Edit: Followed by a single in the seventh. Never a doubt about the streak.

 

[Cuzittt]

Portland wins 5-2.

Boxscore

Brian Johnson went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, a walk and a WP; striking out 8. Noe Ramirez went 3 innings, hitting a batter.

Carlos Rivero and Peter Hissey each went 2/4; Hissey with a triple and a SB. Mookie Betts and Travis Shaw each went 1/3 with a walk; Shaw with a CS. Blake Swihart went 1/4 with a double. Deven Marrero, Henry Ramos and Shannon Wilkerson each went 0/3 with a walk. Heiker Meneses went 0/4.

 

[ItOnceWasMyLife]

Good thing Mookie isn't facing Darvish tonight.

 

[Cuzittt]

Pawsox win 5-0.

Boxscore

Allen Webster went 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and a walk; striking out 3. Tommy Layne went an inning, giving up a hit and striking out 2. Dalier Hinojosa went 2/3rds of an inning, striking out 2. Chris Resop went 2 1/3 innings; striking out 3.

Brock Holt went 2/4 with a double, walk and SB. Garin Cecchini went 2/4. Mike McCoy went 1/1 with a HR, SF, 2 walks and a SB. Christian Vazquez went 1/4. Daniel Nava and Ryan Lavarnway each went 1/5. Bryce Brentz went 0/3 with 2 walks. Brandon Snyder went 0/4. Alex Hassan went 0/5.

 

[Cuzittt]

Salem win 5-3.

Boxscore

Luis Diaz went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 WPs; striking out 4. Austin Maddox went 2 innings, allowing a run on a HR; striking out 3. Kyle Martin went an inning, striking out one.

Tim Roberson went 2/4 with a double. Aneury Tavarez went 1/3 with a SF and a SB. Matty Johnson went 1/3 with a sacrifice. Reed Gragnani and Jonathan Roof each went 1/4; Gragnani with a double. Carson Blair went 0/1 with 2 walks and a SF. Ryan Dent went 0/3 with a HBP. Kevin Heller and Dreily Guerrero each went 0/3.

 

[Cuzittt]

Drive lose 5-2.

Boxscore

Trey Ball went 3 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits, 4 walks and a Balk. Sergio Gomez went 4 1/3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 3 walks and a WP; striking out one. Joe Gunkel pitched the final inning, striking out 2.

Jake Romanski went 2/4 with 2 doubles. Tzu-Wei Lin went 1/3 with a double, walk and SF. Forrestt Allday went 1/4 with a sacrifice. Wendell Rijo and Jantzen Witte each went 1/4; Witte with a walk. Kendrick Perkins went 0/2 with 2 walks. Zach Kapstein and Carlos Asuaje each went 0/3 with a walk. Manuel Margot went 0/4.

 

[Stan Papi Was Framed]

Salem win 5-3.

Boxscore

Kyle Martin continues to put up great numbers--I think K-BB is now 29-3 (!) thru 21 innings

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Nice to see Johnson continue to hold his own in Aa.

 

[Cuzittt]

STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Allen Webster and three relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout and Mike McCoy homered and drove home three as the Pawtucket Red Sox blanked the Louisville Bats, 5-0, Friday night in the opener of a four-game series at Louisville Slugger Field.

The game, which was played in a steady rain for most of the night, was delayed for 49 minutes between the top and bottom of the fourth inning. Webster (2-1) stayed in the game following that delay for two frames and lasted a total of five innings. He pitched around six hits allowed, all singles, by stranding six runners on base.

Tommy Layne (1.0 innings), Dalier Hinojosa (0.2 innings) and Chris Resop (2.1 innings) combined to retire the final 12 Louisville batters to finish the shutout. Hinojosa, who struck out each batter he faced, left the game with an injury in the seventh inning. The severity was not immediately known.

Pawtucket struck for two runs before the rain delay against Bats starter Chad Reineke (0-4), each scoring in the third inning on RBI groundouts (Alex Hassan and Daniel Nava).

Chad Rogers relieved Reineke following the rain to start the fifth, and the first batter he faced Brandon Snyder reached on a fielding error by shortstop Argenis Diaz. McCoy followed with a two-run blast to left, his first of the season, that made the score 4-0.

McCoy added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to complete the scoring. The utility man snapped an 0-for-20 skid with his home run and ended up reaching base three times by adding a pair of walks.

SEADOGS

Game Story

With one Portland runner on and two outs in the third inning, Fisher Cats shortstop Kevin Nolan fielded Deven Marrero’s grounder but threw wildly to first. The Sea Dogs followed with three run-producing hits from Travis Shaw, Carlos Rivero and Blake Swihart (two-run double) for a 4-0 lead.

Rivero added another RBI single in the seventh.

That was enough for Brian Johnson (2-0), who allowed two runs on six hits in his Hadlock Field debut. His ERA is 1.59 after two Double-A starts.

Noe Ramirez pitched three scoreless innings for his second save.

New Hampshire starter Deck McGuire (3-4) took the loss, although he did not allow an earned run.

The Sea Dogs (21-11) continue to lead the Eastern League’s East Division, while the Fisher Cats (14-19) are fifth among six teams.

Brian Johnson

There was a time when Brian Johnson, the newest Portland Sea Dogs pitcher, would sit back and savor his gourmet meal.

Macaroni and cheese.

It was the only food Johnson could eat besides liquids. The small noodles were sliced in half, and he could insert one piece at a time into his fractured face.

“It took me about an hour to eat a cup of mac and cheese,” Johnson said. “But it was worth it.”

Johnson was 21 that summer in 2012, a left-handed pitcher in his first pro season with the Boston Red Sox. In Johnson’s fourth start for the Lowell Spinners, in a special game at Fenway Park, a line drive slammed into his face. He collapsed on the mound, bloodied and well aware he was in trouble.

“I didn’t lose consciousness. I had my vision. I remember everything,” Johnson said.

The diagnosis included a broken nose and 16 fractures in his face, around his eyes and nose.

“No surgery and I didn’t have my mouth wired shut,” he said. “But I couldn’t eat for six weeks.”

Except for that appetizing mac and cheese.

But Johnson’s challenges went beyond his face healing. How would this affect his pitching?

“Not so much physically but mentally,” he said.

Johnson is one of the top Red Sox pitching prospects – and that does seem to be a long list these days – a first-round draft pick (31st overall) out of the University of Florida. He was Boston’s second pick of the draft (after shortstop Deven Marrero), a selection the Red Sox acquired for losing Jonathan Papelbon to free agency.

Boston gave Johnson a $1.5 million signing bonus and sent him to the rookie league Lowell Spinners. In August 2012, Lowell played a “Futures at Fenway” game in Boston. On Johnson’s second pitch, a line drive leveled him.

This was not the first time Johnson was hit in the head by a baseball. When pitching for Florida, his catcher beaned him while throwing down to second base. Johnson was knocked out with that one.

Johnson recovered from the Fenway incident and by spring training 2013, he had healed, “healthy and ready to go.”

But then it came time to step on a mound and face a batter, and Johnson also had to face the fear.

“I hadn’t really thought about it too much, but then that first time back on the mound, I felt like I was on the biggest stage of my life and it was just (batting practice) in spring training,” Johnson said.

“My heart was racing. I tried to take a deep breath and relax. That’s all I could do.”

Johnson settled in at low Class A Greenville last year.

“The biggest battle for me that first month or two was trying to go out and compete,” he said. “I had to have the mentality to go out there and get a win for the team instead of thinking about getting hit in the face.

SALEM

Game Story

FIRST GLANCE: After entering pro ball as a catcher, Tim Roberson has gradually made the transition to first base — a move that is paying big dividends for the Salem Red Sox these days.

With two first basemen on the disabled list, Roberson has stepped into the position and excelled. Roberson went 2 for 4 and delivered the game-changing two-run double Friday to lead the Sox to a 5-3 victory over Carolina in front of 3,219 at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

“It [stinks] because those two guys are my buddies,” Roberson said of the injuries to David Chester and Matt Gedman, who played the majority of games at first in April. “They’re awesome guys. But I got called up so I’ve got to make the most of my opportunity and do the best I can.”

DOUBLING UP: Roberson clubbed his first home run for Salem and had four RBIs during the team’s 18-2 romp on Thursday night. On Friday, he had Salem’s only multihit game, ripping a double into the left field corner in the fourth inning to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

Roberson also showed good instincts at his new position, cutting down a runner at the plate to preserve the lead in the fifth inning.

“I played a little bit of first last year, and then once we left spring training I started playing it a lot more,” he said. “I’ve been working really hard to try to get to learn it, all my ins and outs around there.”

GEMS ALL AROUND: Roberson’s play wasn’t the only defensive highlight for Salem. Right fielder Aneury Tavaraz made a spectacular diving catch to end the sixth, saving a run and earning a congratulatory high five from pitcher Luis Diaz.

In the ninth, shortstop Ryan Dent ranged deep in the hole to deny Anthony Gallas a one-out hit.

DRIVE

Game Story

A rain delay could not help the Greenville Drive wash away a dismal start.

The Drive surrendered five runs to the Greensboro Grasshoppers through the first four innings on Friday night. Greenville managed merely three hits and seven strikeouts through that same span.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, rain briefly poured over Fluor Field, forcing a 30-minute delay. Greenville did not allow another run after the shower but produced only two runs.

The Drive fell 5-2, dropping its second consecutive loss.

Greensboro starting pitcher Domingo German commanded the mound through the first four innings. He allowed merely three hits and struck out seven batters.

Greenville (17-14) finished with merely six hits. Center Jake Romanski, who batted 2-for-4 with two doubles, was the only Drive batter who recorded multiple hits.

Greenville batted 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

After producing at least 12 runs in each of its previous three games, the Drive has scored merely two runs in each of the last two outings. However, Greenville manager Darren Fenster said he is not concerned with the lineup’s productivity at the plate.

“We didn’t have that many opportunities to score tonight, but a couple of them went by the wayside without us executing or getting the big hit when we needed to,” Fenster said. “As long as we keep putting ourselves in position to have opportunities to score, then I’m not worried about us scoring runs.”