Wilson's arm mystifies Thunder bats

6/23 Cup of Coffee: On a dreary and rainy day in New England, the affiliates did not do much to lift fans spirits, with Portland’s victory the only win in the entire system. Opponents found victory rather easily against Pawtucket and the GCL Red Sox, while the DSL squad dropped an extra inning thriller.

Despite holding a lead into the sixth inning, the PawSox were whacked by the Louisville Bats (CIN), 7-2. Brandon Duckworth dropped to 4-4 on the season as he went 5.2 innings, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3. Jason Rice added 1.2 innings of relief, allowing 3 runs on 1 hit and 4 walks, adding 2 strikeouts. Blake Maxwell recorded the final two outs of the eighth inning. With the game scoreless in the fourth, Che-Hsuan Lin hit a two run home run, his first of the season, to give Pawtucket the 2-0 advantage. The pair of runs was all the offense the PawSox could muster, as Louisville grabbed 4 runs in the sixth and added 3 more in the eighth to cruise to victory.

A quick offense start catapulted Portland to an 11-4 victory over the Trenton Thunder (NYY). Alex Wilson picked up his sixth victory of the season for his stellar 5.2 inning performance, allowing just 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8. Miguel Gonzalez added 2.1 innings of relief, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits, striking out 4. Santo Luis also added an inning from the bullpen, allowing a run on 2 hits while collecting a strikeout. In the first, back-to-back-to-back bases loaded walks to Chih-Hsien Chiang, Tim Federowicz and Reynaldo Rodriguez as well as a sacrifice fly by Oscar Tejeda gave the Sea Dogs a quick 4-0 lead. Federowicz lofted a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Ryan Khoury laced an RBI double in the sixth to extend Portland’s advantage to 7-0. Trenton finally got on the board in the seventh, but the Sea Dogs scored four more runs in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI triple by Tejeda, an RBI single by Jorge Padron, an Alex Hassan RBI double and an RBI ground out by Jeremy Hazelbaker. Hassan collected three hits to lead the Portland offense.

Lowell's contest against Vermont was rained out, no makeup date was formally announced.

The GCL Orioles (BAL) pounced on Red Sox pitching early and often as they easily defeated the GCL Red Sox 8-1. Mario Alcantara received the start for the Red Sox, going 5.0 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits while striking out 2. John Killen added 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 1. Anatanaer Batista contributed an inning out of the bullpen, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. Likewise, Matt Kramer tossed an inning of relief, allowing 1 run on 2 walks. Down 6-0 in the seventh, the Red Sox scored their lone run of the contest as Nick Robinson scampered home on a fielding error by the Orioles first baseman. Robinson was 2 for 4 with a double to lead the Red Sox offense.

In perhaps the most thrilling contest of the day, the DSL Red Sox lost a heartbreaking extra inning tussle with the DSL Cardinals (STL), 8-7. Edwin Osario got the starting nod and went 4.0 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 4. Leonel Vazquez added 2.1 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out a trio. Ellis Jimenez followed Vazquez, adding 3.2 innings out of the bullpen, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits while striking out 5. Iago Januario received the loss for his 0.1 innings of work, allowing 2 runs on 1 hit and 4 walks. In the first, Aneudis Peralta laced an RBI single to put the Red Sox on top, 1-0. After the Cardinals tied the game in the second, Robert Del Rosario added an RBI single in the third to give the Red Sox a 2-1 advantage. The Cardinals once again battled back to tie the game in the bottom half of the third and eventually took a 3-2 lead after six innings. In the eighth, the Red Sox tied the game as Cleuluis Rondon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Despite scoring chances for both teams in the ninth, the game went into extra innings. In the tenth, the Red Sox took a 6-3 lead on a fielding error by the Cardinals first baseman, an Andres Garcia bases loaded walk and a Del Rosario RBI single. Amazingly, the Cardinals battled back in the bottom half of the inning to once again knot the score. Rondon added a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th to give the Red Sox a 7-6 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinals scored twice to walk off with a victory.

Player of the Night: Alex Wilson, who tossed 5.2 innings, allowing just 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8 to pick up the win in Portland’s 11-4 victory over Trenton.

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