August 18, 2018 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Duran with 4 hits; Hernandez tosses 6 shutout frames
8/18 Cup of Coffee: Jarren Duran (pictured) was a perfect 4 for 4, headlining the offensive performances in what was a strong day with the bats for the system. Chad De La Guerra had three hits in Portland and five different Spinners turned in multi-hit outings. Darinzon Hernandez struck out nine in six shutout innings for Salem and Jhonathan Diaz did not allow an earned run in his outing as part of a 4-2 day down on the farm.
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Sam Travis drilled a two-run home run and Cole Sturgeon lifted a solo shot to make a three-run third that helped to be the difference. Sturgeon added an RBI double in the sixth and Dan Butler contributed another with a productive out. Robby Scott walked one in 1 2/3 innings of no-hit work and Travis Lakins was perfect in 1 1/3 frames to close out the ballgame, grabbing his first save in Pawtucket. Josh A Smith allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings of work in the start, striking out seven against zero walks.
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Portland only worked out six hits and Chad De La Guerra had half of them in a blowout loss. Jordan Betts added two more hits. Teddy Stankiewicz was uneven in five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out five. Jared Oliver had a case of the walks, allowing five runs on just one hit with three walks mixed in across 1 1/3 innings. Jordan Weems had a perfect ninth and Jared Cosart delivered 1 2/3 one-hit innings.
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Salem only had nine hits, but a combined shutout from Darwinzon Hernandez and Daniel Gonzalez was a big factor on Friday. Hernandez had six one-hit frames, striking out nine against two walks, while Gonzalez finished it out with two hits across three innings. He punched out five Wood Ducks and walked one. Josh Tobias was 3 for 4 with a double and RBIs came from Tyler Hill, Brett Netzer and Victor Acosta.
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Jarren Duran continued his hot start in Greenville with a perfect 4-for-4 performance, upping his slash line to .407/.435/.475 through 14 games. Pedro Castellanos and Tanner Nishioka each had two hits as well, while Jhonathan Diaz allowed only an unearned run on five hits across seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one. Devon Fisher struck out three in his two-inning, no-hit outing.
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Five members of the Spinners had two hits, including Korby Batesole, Devlin Granberg and Alberto Schmidt, each of whom had two RBI as well, with Schmidt hitting a two-run home run in the fourth. Jose Gonzalez allowed all three runs on four hits in four innings of work, walking three against three strikeouts before the bullpen dominated. A combination of Victor Garcia, Oddainer Mosqueda, Tanner Raiburn and Andrew Politi allowed just one hit across five innings. Mosqueda struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth.
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In the completion of a suspended game from August 11, the Red Sox were shut out by the Twins. Rayniel Adames cruised through the first two innings last week, and Connor Berry started Friday off with two more shutout innings. The Twins got to Rafael Gomez for one run in his three innings of work and that proved to be the difference. The Red Sox had two hits through three innings last week but managed only one on Friday with a single from Nicholas Northcut being all they could muster.
The Red Sox and Twins finished up one suspended game only to have the second game of the day be suspended in the fourth inning. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and Miguel Suero had just given up his first run of the day on an RBI single. Brandon Howlett went 2 for 2 and slugged his 15th double, Elih Marrero went 2 for 3 and scored two runs, and Juan Carlos Abreu went 1 for 3 with a triple and an RBI.
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Player of the Day: Jarren Duran was promoted to Greenville on August 1 and has not disappointed with the bat. He's hitting over .400 since his promotion after a 4-for-4 day on Friday. Duran was selected in the seventh round of this year's draft and his 10 triples on the year between Lowell and the Drive would lead the Carolina League. Duran also added a stolen base, making him 8 for 11 with Greenville and 20 for 27 overall.
Photo Credit: Jarren Duran by Kelly O'Connor