6/19 MiLB Gameday: Clay in the Early Afternoon

[Cuzittt]

Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Clay Buchholz) @ Rochester (Logan Darnell) [1:05pm]
EL: Portland - OFF
CL:Salem (TBD) @ Winston-Salem (TBD) [7:05pm]
SAL: Greenville (Jamie Callahan) vs. Savannah (TBD) [7:05pm]
NYPL: Lowell (Heri Quevedo) @ Connecticut (Fernando Perez) [7:05pm]
GCL: GCL Sox - Opening Day - June 20th vs GCL Twins
DSL: DSL Sox @ DSL Yankees 1 [10:30am]

Notes:


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]

From the PawSox Game Notes:
 
* The PawSox have played 13 straight errorless games which is a new club record.
 
* Since June 5, PawSox pitchers have a 2.44 ERA (29 ER in 107 IP) with 84 H, 32 BB & 102 SO for a 7.1 H/9, 8.6 K/9, 1.08 WHIP and 3.19 K/BB.

 

[mabrowndog]

Clay starts out in "Oh, shit. Not again." fashion by throwing 7 of his first 8 pitches for balls, including a 4-pitch walk to the #2 batter, LHH catcher Chris Hermann.
 
He finishes with 5 straight strikes including an inning-ending whiff of cleanup hitter, RHH 3B Delbinson Romero. A 13-pitch inning for Buchholz.

 

[mabrowndog]

PawSox take a 3-0 lead in the t-2nd. Hassan with a 2-run double, and MOOKIE!!!! with an RBI single.

 

[mabrowndog]

Clay with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 2nd on 2 grounders and a fly to CF. 15 pitches, 7 strikes. Game total: 28 pit, 13 str

 

[mabrowndog]

Two more for Pawtucket in the t-3rd. Singles by Rivero, Roberts & Hassan to start the inning, with Rivero scoring on a Butler GIDP, and then Justin Henry doubled Roberts home.
 
5-0, b-3rd.

 

[mabrowndog]

Three up, three down for Clay in the b-3rd. A fly to LF and two more grounders.
 
12 pitches, 8 strikes (1 sw, 1 look, 3 foul, 3 BIP) for the inning. Game totals: 40 pit, 21 str.
 
The PAW bats are silent in the t-4th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Another hitless frame for Clay in the b-4th. He did hit a batter (Romero) on a 2-2 pitch, but he bookended the inning with battleground strikeouts. First getting Wilken Ramirez after a 1-0 count, going F-Sw-F-F-F-Sw. Then ending it vs Josmil Pinto by getting ahead 0-2 (L-F), running the count full (B-F-B-B) and finishing with a swing & miss on a 12-6 curve.
 
For the inning: 22 pit, 9 balls, 13 str (4 Sw, 2 L, 6 F, 1 BIP). For the game: 62 pit, 34 str (55%).
 
Since the rough 8-pitch/7-ball start: 54 pit, 33 str (61%).

 

[mabrowndog]

Buchholz loses the no-no in the 5th on a Chris Colabello leadoff single to CF. Daniel Ortiz follows with an infield single to 3B. Two on, no outs.
 
EDIT - Ruh roh... A 4-pitch walk to SS Doug Bernier loads the bases for #9 hitter Chris Rahl.
 
EDIT - Big K for Clay on three pitches (C-F-Sw). One down.
 
EDIT - He escapes unscathed, getting a first-pitch GIDP from leadoff hitter James Beresford.
 
Still a 5-0 PawSox lead through 5.
 
15 pitches, 9 strikes that inning (1 Sw, 2 L, 3 F, 3 BIP). Game totals: 77 pit, 43 str.

 

[mabrowndog]

A 10-pitch, 1-2-3 b-6th for Clay on a fly to LF, swinging K, and a 3-1 groundout. 8 strikes (3 Sw, 1 L, 2 F, 2 BIP).
 
For the game: 87 pit, 51 str (59%). Since the 8-pitch/7-ball start: 79 pit, 50 str (63%) -- even with the 4-pitch walk in the 5th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Travis Shaw with a first-pitch HR to lead off the t-7th vs RH reliever Deolis Guerra. Pulled it to RF. But that's all, as Rivero flies out and Roberts & Hassan both strike out.
 
6-0 Paw Sox, mid-7th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Clay's done after 6 shutout IP on 2 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP & 5 Ks. Just two spells of control issues during the game: 7 balls in his first 8 pitches of the game, and then the 2 singles & 4-pitch walk to load the bases in the 5th with no outs. But he sacked up and battled out of trouble each time.
 
Dalier Hinojosa ruined the shutout, yielding 3 runs in the b-7th on 2 H & 2 BB while retiring just 2 batters. Alex Wilson had to come on to slam the door with a K.
 
6-3 PawSox, t-8th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Well, the PawSox have completely blown a 6-0 lead and then some, now trailing 8-6.
 
As easily as Wilson got out of Hinojosa's jam in the 7th, he imploded in the 8th: 5 ER on 3 H & 2 BB, getting just one out, and Daniel Ortiz belting a grand slam.
 
Pawtucket up in the t-9th.

 

[mabrowndog]

After 2-out singles by Shaw & Roberts, Hassan strikes out swinging to end it. Horrible loss for the Paw Sox.

 

[Plympton91]

Wow, the absolute meltdown of Wilson and Britton this season is one of the few bad news stories in the system. Wilson seems hurt, Britton may just be the inconsistent command that he showed earlier in his career rearing its ugly head.

Despite ending the game, Hassan has been heating up recently, which is good to see.

 

[Cuzittt]

Pawsox lose 8-6.

Boxscore

Clay Buchholz went 6 innings, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks and a HBP; striking out 5. Dalier Hinojosa went 2/3rds of an inning, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks; striking out one. Alex Wilson went 2/3rds of an inning, allowing 5 runs on 3 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks; striking out one. Jeremy Kehrt got the final 2 outs; giving up a hit.

Justin Henry went 2/3 with a double and a walk. Ryan Roberts and Alex Hassan each went 2/4 with a walk; Hassan with a double. Travis Shaw and Carlos Rivero each went 2/5; Rivero with a double, Shaw with a HR. Dan Butler went 1/4. Mookie Betts went 1/5. Mike McCoy went 0/4 with an intentional walk. Shannon Wilkerson went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

DSL Sox lose 5-4.

Boxscore

Jhonathan Diaz went 3 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits, a walk and 3 WPs; striking out 2. Samir El-Halaby went 4 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits; striking out one. Darwinzon Hernandez went an inning, allowing a run on 2 hits, 2 walks and a WP.

Rafael Devers went 2/4. Carlos Tovar went 1/2 with a double before being replaced by Jose Lozado who went 0/2. Roldani Baldwin went 1/3 with a walk. Juan Perez went 1/3 with a HBP. Luis Alexander Basabe went 1/5 with a CS. Raiwinson Lameda went 0/2 with a HBP, SF and SB. Luis Alejandro Basabe went 0/3 with a walk. Gerardo Carrizalez went 0/3 with a sacrifice. Isaias Lucena went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

Drive lose 6-3.

Boxscore

Jamie Callahan went 4 1/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and a HBP; striking out 4. Pete Ruiz went 1 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks and a WP; striking out 4. Mario Alcantara went an inning, giving up a hit and a walk; striking out one. Mike Adams pitched the final 2 innings, striking out 3.

Manuel Margot went 2/4 with a double, HR and SB. Zach Kapstein went 2/4. Tzu-Wei Lin went 2/5. Wendell Rijo went 1/3 with a double and a walk. Tim Roberson went 1/4. Kendrick Perkins went 0/3 with a HBP. Jake Romanski went 0/3 with a sacrifice. Carlos Asuaje went 0/4. Forrestt Allday went 0/5.

 

[Cuzittt]

Salem loses the opening game of the second half, 12-4.

Boxscore

Pat Light went 4 innings, allowing 8 runs on 10 hits (3 HRs) and a walk; striking out one. Kyle Kraus went 3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits (1 HR); striking out 2. Madison Younginer struck out 3 and threw a WP in his inning of relief.

Ryan Dent went 2/3 with a walk. Carson Blair went 2/4 with a HR. Mario Martinez, Aneury Tavarez and Matt Gedman each went 1/4; Tavarez with a double. Mike Miller went 1/5. Jantzen Witte went 0/4 in his High A debut. Reed Gragnani and Matty Johnson each went 0/5.

 

[Cuzittt]

Spinners win 5-3.

Boxscore

Heri Quevedo went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk; striking out 2. German Taveras went 3 innings; striking out 2. Carlos Pinales pitched the final inning, giving up a hit

Franklin Guzman went 3/4 with a double and a SB. Bryan Hudson went 2/5 with 2 doubles and a CS. Raymel Flores went 1/2 with 2 walks and a CS. Nick Moore went 1/3 with a double and a SF. Sam Travis, Nick Longhi and Jordan Betts each went 1/4. Mauricio Dubon went 0/3 with a walk. David Sopilka went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Pawtucket squandered a 6-0 lead over the final three innings as the Rochester Red Wings scored eight unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth to earn a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over the PawSox Thursday afternoon at Frontier Field and get a split in the four-game series.

The Rochester rally spoiled a dominating performance from Clay Buccholz, who started on the mound for Pawtucket (37-38) to continue his MLB injury rehab assignment. Buccholz tossed six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and two walks while striking out five. The right-hander, who did not allow his first hit until the fifth inning, threw 87 pitches in the outing.

After trailing 6-3 through seven innings, the Red Wings (41-32) batted around in the eighth and scored five runs against reliever Alex Wilson (1-1). A double and two walks loaded the bases with one out, then left-fielder Daniel Ortiz hit a go-ahead grand slam home run (3) to right. It was the first grand slam allowed by Pawtucket pitching this season.

Doug Bernier's sacrifice fly later in the inning capped the nine-batter rally and completed the scoring. Rochester scored three times in the seventh against Dalier Hinojosa, all of them coming home on a bases-clearing double from James Beresford.

Pawtucket scored three runs in the second and two more in the third against Red Wings starter Logan Darnell. A two-run double by Alex Hassan and an RBI single from Mookie Betts made the score 3-0, then Justin Henry's two-out RBI double the next inning increased the lead to 5-0.

After neither team scored for the next three innings, Travis Shaw blasted his second home run with the PawSox to lead off the seventh against Deolis Guerra. Michael Tonkin (2-1) stranded a runner at third base in the eighth and earned the victory while Aaron Thompson stranded the tying runners on base in the ninth to pick up his third save.

SEADOGS

Winning and Developing
 

You hear so much about the prospects on this Portland Sea Dogs team and how they eventually will help the Boston Red Sox that you forget they’re also trying to win minor league games.

These Sea Dogs are delivering. They return to Hadlock Field on Friday night with a 45-25 record nearly halfway through the 142-game season.

Look around baseball, at the major league, Triple-A and Double-A levels, and only one team has a better record, by one game (46-24) – the Texas Rangers’ Double-A affiliate in Huntsville Alabama, in the Southern League.

Scan the 21-season history of the Sea Dogs and only one team has had a better start – the 1995 Portland club that was 47-23. That team featured a left fielder named Billy McMillon who now manages the Sea Dogs.

That ’95 team reached the Eastern League playoffs, losing in the first round.

The 2006 Sea Dogs were 43-27 in their first 70 games, and eventually won Portland’s only Eastern League championship.

Portland’s last postseason came in 2008, a first-round loss. Six years later the Sea Dogs look like contenders again.

SALEM

Game Story
 

Omar Narvaez hit his first two home runs of the season and drove in four runs Thursday as the Winston-Salem Dash scored eight runs in the first four innings en route to a 12-4 Carolina League victory over the Salem Red Sox at BB&T Ballpark.

Salem starter Pat Light surrendered three long balls in his four innings of work, a solo homer to Tim Anderson in the first, a three-run shot from Narvaez in the third and a two-run blast from Courtney Hawkins in the fourth. Light also gave up RBI singles to Adam Heisler and Anderson in the second.

The Red Sox scored two runs in the fourth off of an RBI single from Mike Miller and a run-scoring fielding error off of the bat of newcomer Jantzen Witte, making the score 8-2 after four innings.

The Dash added three runs in the sixth off Sox reliever Kyle Kraus as Jacob May drove in two with a triple and Hawkins followed with an RBI single.

Salem scored single runs in the seventh and eighth as Ryan Dent would single home a run and Carson Blair hit a solo home run.

Narvaez added a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.

DRIVE

Game Story

A three-run sixth inning turned out to be the key frame Thursday night as the Savannah Sand Gnats defeated the Greenville Drive 6-3 in the teams' opener of the second half of their South Atlantic League schedules.

The game at Fluor Field, with an attendance of 5,781 fans, began 51 minutes late because of a rain delay.

Savannah, the Southern Division first-half champions in the South Atlantic League, jumped ahead with a pair of runs in the second inning. With one out, Jon Leroux and Jorge Rivero hit back-to-back singles, and Colton Plaia drove them in with a double.

Greenville cut that 2-0 lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Sand Gnats right fielder Patrick Biondi missed on a diving attempt at Manuel Margot's liner down the line. The speedy Margot touched every base, scoring on a stand-up inside-the-park home run.

A hit batter, two stolen bases, and a throwing error by Greenville catcher Jake Romanski led to a 3-1 Savannah (45-22, 1-0) advantage in the third.

"Those runs we contributed to a little bit," said Drive manager Darren Fenster. "A catchable ball in center field scores two, and then the other one was on Romanski's error.

"We make those plays, it may be a different game."

The Sand Gnats extended their lead to 6-1 in the sixth, using three extra-base hits to produce three runs.

The Drive (34-36, 0-1) cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and Carlos Asuaje and Wendell Rijo on base, Margot doubled to right field to bring in Asuaje. Rijo scored later on a wild pitch, making the score 6-3.

Margot reached base three times, drove in two runs, and stole a base.

"The last week, week-and-a-half, he's been turning the corner offensively," Fenster said of Margot.

SPINNERS

Game Story

In a back-and-forth affair, the Lowell Spinners emerged victorious Thursday night, tying the game and taking the lead on wild pitches to ultimately prevail with a 5-3 win at Dodd Stadium.

The Spinners have now won three straight games, concluding the two-game sweep of the Tigers.

After a scoreless first, the Spinners got on the board in the top half of the second inning. After Nick Longhi reached on an error to lead off the inning, back-to-back singles by Jordan Betts and Franklin Guzman loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly by Nick Moore put the Spinners ahead 1-0, and Raymel Flores walked to reload the bases, but a David Sopilka double play ended the innings with the Spinners plating just one.

Connecticut (2-5) took the lead in the third. Three straight singles to lead off the inning loaded the bases and Garrett Mattlage beat out an infield single to even the score at one. A sacrifice fly by Ross Kivett gave the Tigers a lead, though Bryan Hudson was able to double up the runner trying to advance to third to quell further damage, with Connecticut up, 2-1.

Lowell (4-3) evened the score in the top half of the fourth. After two quick outs, Guzman singled up the middle, stole second and came around to score on Moore's RBI double.

The lead was short lived however, as the Tigers got a two-out RBI single from Kivett in the fifth, retaking the lead.


The see-saw affair continued in the top half of the seventh inning as the Spinners once again pulled even. After Guzman led off the inning with a double to center, a Gabe Hemmer wild pitch moved him to third and after a Moore strikeout, a second wild pitch brought him home.

The Spinners once again took advantage of a wild pitch in the eighth inning to take the lead. After a lead-off double by Bryan Hudson, Mauricio Dubon tried to sacrifice him to third but ended up taking a walk. Sam Travis's first professional hit loaded the bases and a Joe Jimenez wild pitch brought home Hudson to give the Spinners a 4-3 lead. Longhi followed with a broken bat RBI single to extend the lead to 5-3.