July 12, 2018 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Chatham, Cottam with three hits, Ozoria with three perfect frames
7/12 Cup of Coffee: The system had a good day, as each of the six affiliates that played earned wins. Each of the DSL squads split a doubleheader, with Portland and Pawtucket off for its respective all-star games. Kole Cottam (pictured) helped Lowell to a win with three extra-base hits, as he was a single short of the cycle. Matthew Kent and Kyle Hart each had perfect innings in the tied Eastern League All-Star Game.
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Jalen Beeks and Ryan Brasier were both named to the International League All-Star team, but Beeks was only sent back down to Pawtucket after pitching in Tuesday's game for Boston, while Brasier remains on the big league roster after an inning, so neither were available. Rusney Castillo was eligible, but did not play.
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All three Sea Dogs named to the roster made it into the game that was hard-fought and ended tied after nine innings. Josh Ockimey entered in the top of the fifth at first base and went 0 for 2 with a pair of strikeouts, while Matthew Kent pitched a perfect second inning with a strikeout and Kyle Hart delivered a clean fourth inning.
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Salem reached .500 at 44-44 with its fifth win in six tries on Wednesday. CJ Chatham delivered with a 3-for-4 night, adding an RBI and a walk. Michael Osinski and Tyler Hill also had two hits, while Trenton Kemp was 1-for-1 with a two-run home run. He also walked three times. Jake Thompson had an uneven five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits, walking four and striking out two. Algenis Martinez and Harrison Cooney each had one-hit outings across two innings each. Martinez struck out four, while Cooney punched out a pair.
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Eight of the nine Drive starters had a base knock, including two-hit efforts from Kervin Suarez, Marino Campana, and Samuel Miranda. Kutter Crawford had 6 1/3 strong innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) on four hits, walking one and striking out six. Suarez and Miranda added an RBI each, along with Ryan Fitzgerald, Tanner Nishioka, and Pedro Castellanos.
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Kole Cottam led the way with three hits and two RBI as Lowell won the series opener with Auburn. He was a single short of the cycle, and Tyler Esplin was 2 for 4 with two doubles, while Jarren Duran also had two hits. Taylor Ahearn pitched three strong innings, allowing one run on four hits. He also walked two and struck out three. Victor Garcia added a perfect two-thirds of an inning and Tanner Raiburn had 1 2/3 innings more of no-hit ball, walking two with a strikeout mixed in.
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Nicholas Northcut was 3 for 4 with a double, with Brandon Howlett and Chad Hardy each delivering two base knocks. Howlett added three RBI, with Hardy owning a pair. Lane Milligan also had a two-RBI day. Ryan Fernandez tossed three shutout innings, surrendering three hits with a walk and a strikeout. Yusniel Padron-Artilles gave his squad two no-hit innings with two walks and two strikeouts, with Robbie Baker finishing the game on a perfect inning, adding two strikeouts.
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Three hits were enough for the Red Sox in the first half of a doubleheader Carlos Sanchez delivered his team's only RBI. Miguel Suero had three no-hit innings, with two walks and four strikeouts, while Emerson Ortiz finished it out with four innings of four-hit ball. He allowed one run and struck out five to one walk.
The scoreline read 0-0 through nine innings of a seven-inning game, and the Rays grabbed a run in the 12th after each team scored two runs in both the 10th and 11th frames. Ceddane Rafaela was 3 for 5 with two RBI and had three of his team's seven hits. Aldo Ramirez struck out four and scattered four hits across six shutout innings, and Alvaro Leal had two more no-hit frames, though he walked four batters to two strikeouts. Carlos Cortes allowed four runs (two earned) in three-plus innings on just two hits, walking three against two strikeouts.
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The Red Sox were able to win the second half of the double-header but were shut out in the early end. Yulis Hernandez owned two of the Red Sox' four hits and Jorge Rodriguez pitched five frames of two-hit, shutout ball. He walked three and struck out seven. Alejandro Chrisostomo was the weak link in the bullpen, allowing all three runs in just one-third of an inning.
Luis Hernandez was 2 for 4, and Carlos Martinez added two more, owning the Red Sox' only RBI. Carlos Velez delivered a strong start, scattering four hits over four shutout innings, walking two and striking out seven. Isaias Ozoria pitched three perfect innings with six punchouts for the win.
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Player of the Night: There were a lot of guys in the system with three hits, but Kole Cottam was the only one who did it with three extra-base hits, so he gets the nod. The backstop was the team's fourth-round pick in June's MLB Draft out of Kentucky and is off to a slow start with a .224 batting average, but has shown power, as he has three doubles and three home runs in 17 games so far for the Spinners.
Photo Credit: Kole Cottam by Kelly O'Connor