April 19, 2017 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Chavis, Dalbec club first homers of 2017
4/19 Cup of Coffee: It was a night of close games, with three of the four affiliates pulling out wins. Michael Chavis hit his first home run of the season for Salem, who walked off to a win. Meanwhile, Bobby Dalbec also collected his first round-tripper of the 2017 campaign. Portland pitchers, including Teddy Stankiewicz (pictured), held their opponent off the scoreboard for ten innings. And an old friend showed off his power against the PawSox.
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Pawtucket struggled to get any offense going in a game that saw Jackie Bradley Jr. and Josh Rutledge making rehab starts for the Triple-A club. Bradley went 0 for 2 before being lifted in the sixth. Rutledge provided all of Pawtucket's offense with a solo home run in the first inning. Rusney Castillo went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .318 and stole his second base of the season. Shawn Haviland was the tough-luck loser, recovering after a tough first inning to strike out eight over seven innings of work. Old friend Yoan Moncada hit his third home run of the season to lead off the first for Charlotte. Pawtucket hit into four double plays and left the tying run on base in the ninth.
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The Sea Dogs blanked Binghamton for 10 innings, with Portland pitchers Teddy Stankiewicz, Austin Maddox, and Jamie Callahan scattering just five combined hits. Stankiewicz gave up just three hits, struck out five and walked one in six innings of work. Maddox and Callahan each struck out three. The Sea Dogs finally broke through in the tenth on a Jordan Procyshen RBI single. Rafael Devers went 2 for 3 with a walk. He was also gunned down at the plate in the fifth and was lifted for a pinch runner in the 10th.
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Salem walked off to its fifth win in a row on a Chad De La Guerra sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. Deiner Lopez, who had just driven in the tying run, had stolen third base to set up De La Guerra's heroics. Lopez and Bryan Hudson, each went 2 for 4 with a pair of stolen bases. Michael Chavis, who just returned from the disabled list yesterday, blasted a two-run shot for his first of the year. He went 1 for 3 with a walk. Josh Ockimey went 0 for 2, but drove in his 11th run of the year on a sacrifice fly.
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A two-run homer by shortstop Carlos Tovar in the sixth proved to the be the difference maker for Greenville on Tuesday. The home run was just the third of the 21-year-old Venezuelan's professional career after hitting just two in 58 games for Lowell in 2016. Bobby Dalbec hit his first home run at the Low-A level, clubbing a first-inning solo shot. Mike Shawaryn continued to put his disastrous season opener in the rear view with his second solid start. He racked up eight more strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, bringing his season total to 18 in just 12 1/3 total innings. He did give up seven hits and two walks, but limited the damage to just two earned runs.
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Player of the Night: Nobody blew the doors off on Tuesday, despite a few home runs, so the quality start from Teddy Stankiewicz gets the nod. The 2013 second-round draft pick is off to his second straight stellar April with an ERA of 1.89 through three starts. He hopes 2017 will go differently, however, as the wheels fell off after his hot start last year. Stankiewicz saw his ERA balloon to 5.24 at one point in July and became susceptible to the long ball before finishing the year with a 4.71 ERA. He gave up 16 homers in 25 starts last year.
Photo Credit: Teddy Stankiewicz by Kelly O'Connor