May 11, 2011 at 5:57 AM
A tough day at the office for Red Sox minor leaguers
5/11 Cup of Coffee: Red Sox affiliates face stiff competition en route to dropping 3 of 4 games.
Pawtucket managed just 5 hits against Gwinnett (ATL) in a 5-1 loss. The PawSox were facing top prospect Mike Minor, and he did not disappoint. Minor went 7 innings and allowed just 4 hits and a run. Tony Thomas went 1-3 with a walk and a solo home run, accounting for the lone Pawtucket run. Matt Fox started for Pawtucket. The righty went 4.2 innings and allowed 5 hits and a run. He walked 1 and struck out 3. Michael Bowden came on in the 8th inning and contributed another scoreless inning. Bowden allowed 2 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 2. He has allowed runs in only 2 of his last 10 appearances.
Portland benefited from strong pitching in a 3-0 win over New Hampshire (TOR). Ryan Lavarnway went 2-3 with a home run and 2 RBI. Tim Federowicz went 2-4 with 2 singles and an RBI. Stephen Fife got the nod for the Sea Dogs and pitched quite well. Fife pitched 6 innings of shutout ball, and allowed only 4 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 1. Kyle Fernandes came on in relief of Fife and pitched 2 scoreless innings. He allowed 2 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 1. Tommy Hottovy earned his first save of the year, and of his career, for that matter. He pitched a perfect 9th inning with 2 strikeouts.
Salem did not have a hit through the first 5 innings, and ultimately lost to Wilmington (KC), 3-1. Jake Odorizzi, the top prospect who came to Kansas City in the Zack Greinke deal, did not disappoint on this night. Odorizzi had a no-hitter through 5 innings. His final line was 6 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 3 walks and 13 strikeouts. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 1-3 with a walk and a solo home run. Rodriguez leads the Carolina League in OPS and slugging, while ranking 2nd in OBP and RBI. Pete Ruiz got the start for Salem and took the loss. Ruiz battled through 5 innings and allowed 6 hits and 3 runs. He walked 2 and struck out 4. Jeremiah Bayer threw 2 scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 0.82. He allowed 1 hit, walked 1 and struck out 3. Cesar Cabral pitched a scoreless 8th. He allowed 1 hit and did not walk or strike out a batter.
Greenville was being shutout until the 8th inning and lost Dolly Parton style to Asheville (COL), 9-5. Bryce Brentz extended his hit streak to 22 games as he went 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Brentz is hitting .364 this season with 7 home runs and 26 RBI as he tries to become the best Bryce in the minors. Why he hasn’t been promoted from Greenville is a mystery to me. Drew Dominguez went 2-4 with his first professional home run, a solo shot. Lucas LeBlanc went 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Kyle Stroup started for Greenville, and struggled. He went 2 innings and allowed 5 hits and 4 runs. He walked 4 and did not record a strikeout.
Player of the Day: Bryce Brentz. To be quite honest, I was tempted to give this award to Jake Odorizzi for his spectacular performance against Salem, but I can't do that. Brentz went 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI as he extended his hit streak to 22 games in Greenville's loss to Asheville.