Bogaerts power display helps Greenville edge Charleston

7/31 Cup of Coffee: On a day which featured a prominent prospect rumored to be traded, Red Sox affiliates went 3-4 as a pair of Greenville players achieved career-firsts.

Pawtucket allowed a sixth-inning run that broke a 2-2 tie and handed the PawSox a 3-2 loss to the Louisville Bats (CIN). Kevin Millwood was charged with all 3 runs scored by the Bats, though he did strikeout 10 batters in his 5.2 innings pitched. Trailing 2-0 in the third, the PawSox tied the score thanks to an RBI single from Lars Anderson and a run-scoring groundout by Luis Exposito. After retiring the first two batters of the sixth on strikes, Millwood allowed three straight singles, the last of which brought home the eventual game-winning run. In the seventh, Anderson was removed for a pinch hitter, signaling that he might be involved in a trade. At this point, however, a deal involving Anderson going to the A's organization for pitcher Rich Harden appears to be on hold.

There was decidedly less off-the-field drama in Portland's contest with the Altoona Curve (PIT), but the Sea Dogs fared no better than their Triple-A counterpart, falling by a score of 5-1. After falling behind 1-0, Portland tied the score in the third on a Chih-Hsien Chiang RBI groundout. Altoona scored two more in the fourth off of Brock Huntizinger, who went on to allow 4 runs on 7 hits in 5.0+ innings of work. Caleb Clay took over for Huntzinger and gave up the Curve's fifth run of the game, though he did pitch a solid 3.2 innings out of the bullpen. Jeremy Hazelbaker stole his 20th base with Portland and now has 32 thefts on the season overall.

Salem scored all of its runs late but managed to come back for a 6-3 victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats (ATL). Starter Drake Britton gave up 3 runs and 6 hits in his 5.0-inning outing while striking out 3 and walking 2. The game remained 3-0 all the way until the eighth, when the Red Sox got to the Hillcats for four runs. Alex Valdez singled home the first run, then a two-run double by Peter Hissey tied the score. The next batter was Kolbrin Vitek, who knocked in a run of his own with a single to give Salem a 4-3 lead. Valdez provided some insurance in the ninth with a two-run blast to extend the lead to 6-3. Chris Martin earned the win in relief, pitching 4.0 shutout innings and allowed just 2 hits in the process.

Greenville withstood a late charge from the Charleston RiverDogs (NYY) and held on for 4-3 victory. After Brandon Workman allowed the game's first run in the top of the first, Christian Vazquez tied the score in the bottom half with an RBI single. Then in the fourth, Xander Bogaerts led off with a solo home run to give the Drive the lead. Bogaerts launched another solo shot in the sixth and Wilfred Pichardo hit an RBI triple to extend the Greenville lead to 4-1. Workman, meanwhile, had his longest outing as a professional, firing 7.0 innings with 1 run and 4 hits allowed with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. The RiverDogs made it interesting in the ninth, scoring two runs off of Charle Rosario. But Rosario got out of the inning with the tying run on third for his fourth save of the season.

Lowell was tied in the ninth, but lost in walk-off fashion 3-2 to the State College Spikes (PIT). The Spinners took a 2-0 lead in the third on an RBI triple from Jose Garcia and a run-scoring single by Keury De La Cruz. De La Cruz has knocked in at least one run in each of the last five games, with eight RBIs in total in that span. He is also hitting .400/.462/.629 over his last 10 contests. Jason Garcia gave up two runs in the fifth, which was his final inning of work. In his 5.0 innings pitched, he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2. Hunter Cervenka came on in relief and did not allow a run until the bottom of the ninth, when he uncorked a wild pitch which allowed the winning run to come across and give the Spikes the victory.

The GCL Red Sox doubled up the GCL Twins (MIN) in both the run and hit column with a 4-2 victory. Francisco Taveras tossed 5.0 shutout innings to earn the win. He gave up just 2 hits while walking 1 and fanning 6 to move to 4-1 on the year. David Chester opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single, while a wild pitch and a passed ball gave the Red Sox two more runs in the fifth inning. The Twins picked up an unearned run off of Matt Kramer in the sixth, but the Red Sox regained their three-run lead in the seventh on another RBI from Chester, this time with a double. The 22 year old has knocked in seven runs in his last three games. The Twins scored once in the eighth, but the Red Sox held on for the win after Yunior Ortega pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

In a game shortened by rain, the DSL Red Sox were defeated by the DSL Indians (CLE), 3-1 in seven innings. The lone Red Sox run came in the third inning after Andres Garcia scored on an error. Starting pitcher Sully Bonnelly was saddled with the loss after allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 5.0 innins pitched. He also walked 4 and struck out 2. The Indians tacked on another run in the sixth off of Edwin Osorio before rain forced the game to be called.

Player of the Night: Xander Bogaerts, who had his first multi-home run game as a professional. Both were solo homers, as the 18 year old native of Aruba went 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 RBI in Salem's 4-3 win over Charleston.

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