Cup of Coffee: Beeks keeps rolling; Scherff steps up

5/4 Cup of Coffee: Despite having a quartet of top-20 prospects on the mound--and despite three of them pitching quite well--the affiliates were swept in Thursday's slate full of road games. Jalen Beeks continued striking out International League hitters at an absurd rate, re-taking the minor league lead in that category. Travis Lakins pitched three scoreless following a lengthy rain delay. Salem and Greenville both had morning games on tap, with Alex Scherff (pictured) turning in an excellent five shutout innings.

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders (NYY) 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 3

Thursday evening featured yet another outstanding performance by the scorching-hot Jalen Beeks. The 24-year-old lefty allowed two runs on five hits in 6 2/3, striking out nine against only one walk. In 26 1/3 innings, Beeks has totaled 46 strikeouts, leading all affiliated minor leaguers in 2018. At the plate, Mike Miller had a three-hit night that included a solo home run and a pair of runs scored. Rusney Castillo was 2 for 5, raising his average to .327 and extending his hitting streak to seven games. 

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Hartford Yard Goats (COL) 5, Portland Sea Dogs 4

The second start of the season for Travis Lakins was delayed by 85 minutes due to rain at Dunkin Donuts Park. Once baseball got underway, the righty was excellent, striking out five and giving up only one hit and one walk in three scoreless. Teddy Stankiewicz, working in a piggyback role since Lakins' return, took the loss with five runs allowed in five frames. Burning-hot Cole Sturgeon ripped another double, and Josh Ockimey added a double of his own and walked twice.

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Frederick Keys (BAL) 8, Salem Red Sox 3

Santiago Espinal led off the game with a home run, but things went mostly downhill from there for the Red Sox. Espinal did his part, adding another pair of hits, and Kyri Washington was 2 for 4 with a double. Roniel Raudes struggled in the loss, giving up three runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings, walking and striking out three apiece. It was only the second outing this season that the 20-year old had allowed more than one earned run.

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Delmarva Shorebirds (BAL) 9, Greenville Drive 8

Delmarva completed its sweep of Greenville, despite an outstanding effort from right-hander Alex Scherff. The 2017 fifth-round draft pick had by far his best pro outing to date, allowing just two hits in five scoreless innings, striking out four and walking one. The performance slashed over two full runs off of Scherff's ERA. Lorenzo Cedrola had a big day at the plate out of the leadoff spot, going 3 for 5 with a walk, double and pair of runs scored. Victor Acosta also drove in a pair as part of a two-hit day.

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Player of the Day: It had been a tough start to 2018 for Alex Scherff. Given an aggressive assignment to Low A Greenville in his first full pro season out of high school the right-hander entered the morning's contest with an unsightly 9.35 ERA, having allowed more than four runs in each of his outings. It was a different story Thursday, as Scherff did not allow his first hit until there were two outs in the fourth inning on his way to five shutout frames.

Photo Credit: Alex Scherff by Kelly O'Connor.

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