Cup of Coffee: Travis and Longhi collect two hits

5/11 Cup of Coffee: It was a rough night offensively for the affiliates as the four teams combined to score 14 runs. Lorenzo Cedrola's two hits were the only thing stopping Greenville from being no-hit, while every starter for Salem struck out at least once. Henry Owens and Jake Cosart both continued to have varying degrees of control issues, while Sam Travis and Nick Longhi kept on swinging the bat well. Matt Kent was the only starter to have success, as he improved to 2-2 on the year. 

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 5, Pawtucket Red Sox 2

Henry Owens continued to struggle with his control, walking three over five innings, as he took the loss on Wednesday. Despite the high walk totals, Owens entered the game with an ERA of 1.35 and a batting average against of .175, but the RailRiders were able to get to him for four runs on six hits, with one of the hits being a two-run home run. Robbie Ross Jr. struck out three and walked one in his only inning of work.

The offense was led by Sam Travis who went 2 for 4 with a walk and collected his fourth double over his last five games. His batting average has moved up to .253 after starting the season 5 for 36. Tim Roberson also added two hits, while Jantzen Witte went 1 for 3 with two walks. 

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Binghamton Rumble Ponies (NYM) 6, Portland Sea Dogs 5
Another rough start for Jacob Dahlstrand doomed the Sea Dogs as they could not hold an early lead. A week after not being able to make it out of the first inning, Dahlstrand allowed five runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings. Taylor Grover pitched well in long relief as he did not allow a run over 3 2/3 innings, and Jake Cosart walked three and allowed one run over one inning. Cosart now has 21 walks in only 9 1/3 innings.

Nick Longhi went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI single, while Rafael Devers went 0 for 2 but scored two runs thanks to two walks. Longhi is now 7 for his last 13 , while Devers now has an on-base percentage just shy of .500 in 10 games in May. 

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Salem Red Sox 7, Buies Creek Astros (HOU) 2
Despite striking out 17 times, Salem was able to easily dispatch the Astros. Jose Sermo went 2 for 5 with his third home run of the year, and Tate Matheny went 2 for 5 with a double and three strikeouts. Josh Ockimey also struck out three times but he added a two-run single as well. Michael Chavis did not get a hit but he did walk twice and he now has 13 walks in only 22 games. Matt Kent turned in a quality start, allowing two runs over six innings, and Gerson Bautista struck out three over two scoreless innings. 

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Lakewood BlueClaws (PHI) 3, Greenville Drive 0
Greenville's bats were stifled in a loss to Lakewood. Lorenzo Cedrola got the only two hits for the Drive as he went 2 for 3 with a double. The rest of the team combined to go 0 for 24 with three walks and 11 strikeouts. Robby Sexton allowed three runs on five hits over five innings, while Daniel Gonzalez struck out five over three scoreless innings. Gonzalez has now struck out 25 and walked only seven over 24 1/3 innings this season. 

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Player of the Night: Matt Kent's quality start helped Salem improve to 9-3 over the last 12 games. Kent, a 13th-round pick in 2015 out of Texas A&M, only struck out three, but he managed to keep the ball on the ground to limit the damage. He got 12 groundouts and only one flyout and he also picked a runner off first base. The left-hander has always had a very good pick-off move, and only four baserunners have tried to steal on him this year. 

Photo Credit: Matt Kent by Kelly O'Connor

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