August 30, 2018 at 6:27 AM
Cup of Coffee: Oskinski, Butler, Rivera, Quiroz with 3 hits; De La Guerra drills 4 RBI
8/30 Cup of Coffee: Three teams were successful offensively, and two were not. Pawtucket saw six extra-base hits from six different guys, while Portland punched out 14 hits and Salem scored 10 runs. On the other side of the coin, Greenville lost in extras and Lowell was three-hit in a shutout. Kutter Crawford also earned himself a quality start for Salem, throwing seven innings of two-run ball. Meanwhile, in Pawtucket, Christian Vazquez and Rafael Devers each delivered a hit while on a rehab assignment. Chad De La Guerra (pictured) paced Salem with a 2-for-4 evening.
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Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 in a rehab stint and Dan Butler hit 3 for 4 from behind the plate with a home run as Pawtucket scored three in the first on the way to even the series with Lehigh Valley. The PawSox hit five doubles, one each from Tzu-Wei Lin, Rafael Devers, Brandon Phillips, Rusney Castillo and Tony Renda. Pawtucket also got six innings of one-hit ball from Mike Shawaryn, though he did allow two runs thanks to a walk followed by a two-run shot in the fifth. Josh D. Smith threw 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball, and Robby Scott earned the save with a one-hit ninth.
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The top third of the Portland lineup was incredibly successful, with Jeremy Rivera going 3 for 5 at the top of the order, Chad De La Guerra following behind with four RBI, including a home run, and Esteban Quiroz matching Rivera's 3 for 5. Luke Tendler went deep as well. The Fisher Cats did most of their damage against Matthew Kent, allowing seven runs on 12 hits, including two home runs. Jake Cosart gave up merely one hit across his two innings of work, and Josh Taylor threw a clean ninth for the save.
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Salem was up 7-2 after two-and-a-half thanks to a three-run second and four more in the third. The Red Sox hammered out 14 hits, with nine players recording hits. They were led by Michael Osinski who was 3 for 5 with a double. Jerry Downs and Jake Romanski each had home runs while Jagger Rusconi set the table at the top of the lineup, hitting 2 for 5 with a pair of doubles. Kutter Crawford turned in yet another quality start, allowing a pair of runs on four hits across seven innings of work. He also walked three and struck out six.
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It was 1-1 after nine innings and this one needed to be settled in extras. The Drive scored once in the 11th on a Pedro Castellanos single, but Rome scored twice to walk off with the win. Castellanos was 2 for 5, while Jarren Duran owned the other RBI. Alex Scherff gave up five hits in five innings, resulting in just one run. In relief, Durin O'Linger gave Greenville three no-hit frames, with one walk against four strikeouts. Devon Fisher was able to get through the 10th without incident but allowed the runs in the 11th.
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The good news was that Tyler Esplin had two hits, including a double. The bad news was that the Spinners eked out only other hit. The game was close until the end, when the ValleyCats tacked on five runs across their final two at-bats against a combination of Andrew Politi and Francisco Lopez-Soto. Yorvin Pantoja allowed two runs to cross the plate in his five-inning start and Oddanier Mosqueda hurled two no-hit innings as well.
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Player of the Night: No one was able to match Chad De La Guerra's four-RBI night, including a three-run home run in the second, his 15th of the year. His 2-for-4 performance added to a .264/.341/.462 slash line in 299 at-bats with Portland this year. De La Guerra started 2018 in Pawtucket after a successful 2017 campaign in Portland but was demoted after a opening the year with a .137/.158/.205 slash line. De La Guerra has tumbled in the SoxProspects rankings, but the 2015 17th-round pick has multiple hits in each of his last three games.
Photo Credit: Chad De La Guerra by Kelly O'Connor