Workmanlike performance not enough for Greenville

5/23 Cup of Coffee: Sunday was a struggle for Red Sox affiliates, as they dropped 3 of 4 games.

Pawtucket got just enough offense to squeak by Toledo (DET), 2-1. Tony Thomas went 2-4 with a double and a solo home run. Ronald Bermudez went 1-3 with an RBI double. Lars Anderson went 2-4 with 2 singles. Anderson has quietly turned his season around. Over his last 9 games, the first baseman is hitting a Ted Williams-esque .406 (13-32). Tony Pena started for Pawtucket and turned in his best outing of the season (when the game was being shown on NESN, no less). Pena went 6 shutout innings to earn the win and scattered just 4 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 4. Dennis Neuman picked up the 3 inning save for the PawSox. Neuman allowed 1 hit and 1 run. He walked 3 and struck out 1.

Portland faced a huge deficit early on and ultimately lost to Trenton (NYY), 6-1. Oscar Tejeda went 2-3 with a walk, while Tim Federowicz went 1-3 with a sacrifice fly to account for Portland’s lone run. It’s safe to say that Stolmy Pimentel wishes he had a do-over in this game. Pimentel lasted just 1.1 innings and got shelled to the tune of 7 hits and 6 runs. He walked 1 and struck out 1. Over his last 2 innings, he has given up 15 hits and 11 runs. Suffice to say, Mr. Pimentel hasn’t been weathering the Stolm very adequately as of late. The lone bright spot for the Sea Dogs on Sunday was the relief pitching. Jeremy Kehrt went 5.1 innings and allowed a meager 2 hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out 1. The recently promoted Cesar Cabral rebounded from a rough Portland debut to throw 1.1 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts.

Salem, like Portland, faced an uphill battle early on in their game, but nearly came back before losing to Winston-Salem (CWS), 8-7. Bryce Brentz went 3-5 with a double and his 2nd solo homer in as many games since being promoted. Reynaldo Rodriguez busted out of his slump by going 3-5 with a double and a solo home run as well. Mark Wagner went 2-3 with a walk, a home run and 2 RBI. Ryan Pressly took the loss, but did not pitch all that badly. He went 4 innings and allowed 7 hits and 5 runs (1 earned). He did not walk a batter and struck out 4. Kolbrin Vitek’s 3rd inning error led to the 4 unearned Winston-Salem runs.

Greenville outhit Savannah (SF) 11 to 6, but lost by a score of 5-4. Greenville was up 4-0 before surrendering 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Jose Garcia was the lone offensive bright spot for the Drive. He went 4-5 with a triple and 3 RBI. Brandon Workman pitched the best game of his brief professional career. Workman went 6 shutout innings and allowed 2 hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out 5. After struggling early on this season, the tall righty has not allowed a run in his last 2 starts. Juan Rodriguez relieved Workman and pitched a scoreless 7th before imploding in the 8th. Rodriguez’ final line was 1 inning pitched, 3 hits and 5 runs. He walked 4 and did not record a strikeout.

Player of the Day: Brandon Workman, who twirled 6 brilliant innings in Greenville's loss to Savannah. He allowed 2 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 5.

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