6/16 MiLB Gameday: Webster and Couch

[Cuzittt]

Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Allen Webster) @ Rochester (Trevor May) [7:05pm]
EL: Portland (Keith Couch) @ Erie (TBD) [7:05pm]
CL:Salem - OFF [All-Star Break]
SAL: Greenville - OFF [All-Star Break]
NYPL: Lowell (Randy Perez) @ Tri-City (TBD) [7:05pm]
GCL: GCL Sox - Opening Day - June 20th vs GCL Twins
DSL: DSL Sox vs. DSL Giants [10:30am]

Notes:

Pawtucket may have rehab appearances by Will Middlebrooks and Shane Victorino.

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

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Betts 2/3 with a 2B and a 3B so far.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Betts 2/3 with a 2B and a 3B so far.

Pawtucket's only two hits

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Pawtucket's only two hits

 
In a line up that had two major leaguers in it.  (Well, 1.5 anyway.)

 

[rodderick]

Blake Swihart's power surge is one of the most exciting developments in the minors thus far. 

 

[Cuzittt]

Pawsox lose 6-1.

Boxscore

Allen Webster went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits (1 HR), a walk and a WP; striking out 5. Alex Wilson went an inning, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk; striking out two. Jeremy Kehrt went an inning, allowing a run on 3 hits; striking out one.

Mookie Betts went 2/3 with a double, triple and walk. Garin Cecchini went 1/2 after replacing Will Middlebrooks who went 0/2. Mike McCoy went 0/1 with a walk after replacing Shane Victorino who went 0/2. Christian Vazquez, Corey Brown, Alex Hassan and Shannon Wilkerson each went 0/3. Travis Shaw and Carlos Rivero each went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

Seadogs lose 8-7.

Boxscore

Keith Couch had an uncharacteristic ugly appearance, going 3 1/3 innings; allowing 7 runs on 10 hits, 3 walks and a WP. Mike McCarthy went 3 2/3 innings, giving up a hit and striking out 2. Robby Scott went 1+ innings, allowing a game winning HR as well as one other hit and a walk.

Deven Marrero went 3/5 with a triple and a CS. Sean Coyle went 2/4 with a HR and an intentional walk. Blake Swihart and Jonathan Roof each went 2/5 with a HR. Stefan Welch went 1/2 with a walk and a SF. Michael Brenly went 1/4. Heiker Meneses went 0/3 with a walk. Bo Greenwell and Keury de la Cruz each went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

Spinners lose 4-3.

Boxscore

Randy Perez went 5 innings, allowing a run on 3 hits, a HBP and 2 walks; striking out 3. Enfember Martinez went an inning, allowing a run on 2 hits, a walk and a WP. Ellis Jimenez went 2 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on a hit and 6 walks (1 IBB); striking out 2.

Raymel Flores went 2/4 with a double. Deiner Lopez, Nick Longhi, Mike Meyers, Jordan Betts, Nick Moore, Alixon Suarez and David Sopilka each went 1/4; Lopez with a double and 2 SBs, Longhi with a double. Bryan Hudson went 0/4 with a walk.

 

[Cuzittt]

DSL Sox win 5-0.

Boxscore

Ritzi Mendoza went 5 innings, giving up 3 hits, a WP and 2 walks; striking out 2. Jervis Torrealba went 3 innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks; striking out 2. Jesus Perez went an inning, walking one and striking out one.

Luis Alejandro Basabe went 2/3 with a HBP before being replaced by Luis Benoit who went 0/1. Luis Alexander Basabe went 2/4 with a triple, walk and SB. Rafael Devers went 2/4 with a double, walk and a PO/CS. Carlos Tovar went 1/2 with a HR and 2 walks. Yoan Aybar went 1/3 with a double and a walk. Isaias Lucena went 1/4 with a double and a walk. Juan Barriento went 1/4. Juan Perez and Roldani Baldwin each went 0/4.

 

[Frisbetarian]

Somewhere in the Domincan, a game between the Giants and the Red Sox was played. And, there was probably some scoring done. Unfortunately, the lines of communication seem to have been cut... as we do not know that score.

 
The box score is finally up. Sox win 5 -0. Devers 2- 4 with a double and a walk. Now at .415/.522/.736. Gulp. 

 

[Joshv02]

And a second Basabe sighting, for the first time this year.

 

[Drek717]

Impressive to see Coyle bounce back from his injury plagued 2013 like this.  Makes me wonder if they're considering moving him up to AAA in the near future.  He missed a lot of time in 2013 but they still advanced him to AA so I could see the desire to have him get a full season at AA to build confidence and consistency in what he's doing.  Meanwhile however Cecchini is lagging hard and has consistently lacked the power Coyle has shown even in down years.
 
Coyle has a real shot to run down WMB and Cecchini for the 3B job if neither one of them is capable of breaking through.  At this point I'd like to see the club keep Garin in AAA the rest of the year to get as much prep as he can, then throw both he and WMB into direct competition next year with Coyle in AAA as the third option if neither of them win the job.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

We have a new consecutive games on base streak with our boy Devers.  This one is to start his professional career and it stands at 14 games currently.  
 
Can't wait to get him stateside.

 

[Cuzittt]

STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Rochester starter Trevor May pitched 81/3 dominating innings with 11 strikeouts as the Red Wings opened a four-game series with a 6-1 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox Monday night. The PawSox offense is still scuffling, collecting just five hits with 27 strikeouts over its last two games.

Both Shane Victorino (hamstring strain) and Will Middlebrooks (fractured index finger) started for the PawSox to continue their injury rehab assignments. Middlebrooks (0 for 2) played four innings at third base while Victorino (0 for 2) played five innings in right field.

May allowed only two baserunners through eight innings — a leadoff double by Mookie Betts in the fourth and a two-out triple by Betts in the sixth. But after the first batter was retired in the ninth, Pawtucket rallied for a run to chase the right-hander with back-to-back walks to Betts and Mike McCoy followed by Garin Cecchini’s RBI single.

SEADOGS

Game Story

The Portland bullpen put in four solid innings to allow its offense to rally from a seven-run deficit.

But Erie’s Steven Moya quickly erased that impressive work by driving a 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the SeaWolves an 8-7 walk-off win Monday night in front of 4,219 fans at Jerry Uht Park.

“(Mike) McCarthy came in and did a really good job of bridging us deep into the ballgame and Robby Scott pitched a good first inning then the walkoff occurred,” Portland Manager Billy McMillon said.

“I can’t say enough about McCarthy stopping the bleeding and giving us a chance.”

Erie (30-38) started hot and kept tacking on runs in the first four innings.

With two outs in the first, Devon Travis walked before consecutive singles by Steven Moya and Ramon Cabrera gave the SeaWolves a 1-0 lead.

Dixon Machado had an RBI double in the second and Jamie Johnson and Travis each had run-scoring singles as Erie led 4-0.

Johnson started the fourth with a triple and scored on a Jason Krizan fly ball to left. Travis followed with a double and scored on a Moya single.

Cabrera then doubled down the left field line to make it 7-0 Erie and chase Portland starting pitcher Keith Couch.

It was the most runs Couch has allowed in a Double-A start and the first time he’s allowed seven runs since July 7, 2012 as a member of the Salem Red Sox, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

McCarthy came in to throw 32/3 scoreless innings before Scott pitched a scoreless eighth to keep the Sea Dogs in the game.

Portland (44-24) stormed back in the top of the fifth inning with two outs. Heiker Meneses started a five-run rally with a walk before Jonathan Roof singled to left.

Deven Marrero followed with an infield single up the middle that Travis knocked down to seemingly save a run.

Meneses slid around the tag by Cabrera at the plate to get the Sea Dogs on the scoreboard. Cabrera then tried to throw out Roof going to third, but his throw went down the line, allowing Roof to score and Marrero to end up on third base.

Highly regarded prospect Blake Swihart then hammered a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall and Sean Coyle crushed a 3-2 pitch to deep left center to cut the deficit to 7-5 and chase starting pitcher Jeff Ferrell.

Miguel Pena

Portland Sea Dogs left-handed pitcher Miguel “Mickey” Pena was suspended for 100 games after testing positive for a banned substance for a third time, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced Monday.

Pena, 23, was 2-2 with the Sea Dogs with a 6.41 ERA. He was scheduled to start again Wednesday in Erie, Pennsylvania, where the team began a three-game series Monday.

Neither Red Sox farm director Ben Crockett nor the Sea Dogs front office could be reached for comment.

This is Pena’s second suspension. He received a 50-game ban on April 17, 2013 for his second positive test. It is not known when the first positive test was because the commissioner’s office normally issues a warning for the first positive test for a “drug of abuse,” which is not considered a performance-enhancing drug.

According to the official Minor League Baseball website (milb.com) “drugs of abuse” include “marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, ecstasy and other opiates.”

Pena, from Mission, Texas, was a sixth-round draft pick in 2011. After his suspension in 2013, he came back to pitch for advanced Class A Salem, before being promoted to the Sea Dogs on Aug. 20.

SPINNERS

Game Story

The Tri-City ValleyCats fought off an early 3-1 deficit, scoring single runs in the sixth and eighth and then won the game on a walkoff base on balls in the ninth, sending the Lowell Spinners to their third straight loss, 4-3, on Monday night.

ValleyCats 4, Spinners 3

Tri-City (3-1) took a lead in the bottom half of the fifth as right fielder Ariel Ovando singled to right, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by second baseman Alex Hernandez.

The Spinners (1-3) scored all their runs in the top half of the sixth as Deiner Lopez doubled to lead off the inning and Nick Longhi followed with a double down the left field line, scoring Lopez and tying the game. After Mike Meyers grounded out to put Longhi on third, Jordan Betts followed with an RBI single to push the Spinners ahead. Nick Moore singled to put Betts on second, and after an out, David Sopilka stroked a single to left, scoring Betts, who was running on the play.

Tri-City tied the game in the eighth off Ellis Jiminez, who joined the Spinners from the Greenville Drive, on a sacrifice fly. In the ninth, Jiminez loaded the bases and could not find the plate, walking in the winning run.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

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