Vitek slam not enough for Lowell

7/14 Cup of Coffee: Very light action for Sox affiliates on Tuesday, with only Low-A teams taking the diamond. Sloppy fielding did the teams in, with unearned runs contributing to three losses.

A bevy of early runs wasn’t enough to help Lowell to victory, as the Spinners committed 4 errors, leading to 4 unearned runs, and lost 12-9 to Brooklyn (NYM). Things started off well when Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice fly and Bryce Brentz’s RBI single plated 2 runs in the first, but the tide tilted quickly when Brooklyn scored 5 runs between the third and fourth innings to take a 5-2 lead. All of those runs came off starter Hunter Cervenka, though only 2 runs were earned thanks to 2 fourth-inning errors by David Renfroe. The Spinners did their best to pick him up in the bottom of the inning, though, scoring six times. Dusty Brown led off the inning with a home run, and after an out, a single and 2 walks, an RBI ground-out made it 5-4. Another walk followed, then the big blow, a two-out grand slam off the bat of Kolbrin Vitek, his first home run of the year, and just like that it was 8-5 Lowell. Vitek had himself quite a game as the Spinners DH, going 3 for 5 with a double, a home run, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. The teams traded runs in the fifth, with the Lowell tally coming in when Brandon Jacobs tripled and scored on a wild pitch, but the Cyclones took over from there against the Spinners bullpen. A single run in the sixth, two more in the seventh, and a three-spot in the ninth made it 12-9, deciding the game. Lowell lost despite out-hitting Brooklyn 14 to 9. Other Spinners with good offensive performances were James Kang (2 for 4), Brown (3 for 5), Jacobs (2 for 4) and Sean Killeen (2 for 4), but it wasn’t quite enough.

There were unearned runs abound in Fort Meyers on Tuesday, but the GCL Red Sox came out on the wrong end of a 7-1 decision to the GCL Twins (MIN). All 8 runs in the game were unearned thanks to a combined 6 errors between the two teams. Red Sox starter Sergio Gomez gave up 3 of those unearned runs in his brief 0.2-inning start, though the error in the inning was his own, walking 4 batters before being replaced by Raynel Velette. Velette did a bit better, allowing 3 unearned runs over 3.0 innings, but did little to stem the tide. Swen Huijer had a better mound outing, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing only 1 unearned run, but the gold star of the day went to Matt Phillips, who allowed no runs in his inning of work, striking out the side in the process. The Red Sox got on the board in the fifth on Eddie Rosario’s sacrifice fly, but that run, too, was unearned. The team managed only 2 hits in the game.

More unearned runs and another defeat for the Red Sox in the Dominican, as the DSL Red Sox dropped a 5-2 decision to the DSL Yankees (NYY). After scoring first on a Jesus Loya single in the second, the Red Sox yielded 4 runs in the third, 3 of which were unearned thanks to a two-out throwing error by Dreily Guerrero. Those runs were counted against Francellis Montas, who allowed 3 hits and 3 walks in 2.2 innings, striking out 3 as well. William Cuevas did some good work in relief, allowing nary a run on 3 hits in 4.1 innings, also striking out 3. The Red Sox got a run back in the fourth when Guerrero walked, stole second, and scored on back-to-back wild pitches, all in the same at-bat, but it was the last run the team would score in this one. Ellis Jimenez allowed another run in the ninth, and the Red Sox went quickly and quietly from there. In typical DSL Red Sox fashion, the offense only managed 5 hits, walked a whopping 9 times, but were undone by a 1-for-12 performance with runners in scoring position. Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with a double in the game, while Javier Gutierez and Loya each walked twice and stole a base. Juan Ugas collected 3 walks of his own in the contest, going 0 for 1.

Player of the Night: Kolbrin Vitek, who went 3 for 5 with a grand slam in a losing effort for Lowell.

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