Cup of Coffee: Shawaryn and Houck fire seven strong innings

8/15 Cup of Coffee: Dominant outings from Mike Shawaryn (pictured), Kyle Hart and Tanner Houck were the highlights of the night, while Sam Travis had five hits over two games. Brayan Bello racked up more strikeouts in the DSL, four players from Lowell played in the New York-Penn League All-Star game. 

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Norfolk Tides (BAL) 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 1 (Game 1)

Chandler Shepherd struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings but he also served up two home runs as he fell to 6-8 on the season with the loss. Marcus Walden fired 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to keep the PawSox close but they couldn't muster up enough offense to come back. Sam Travis had the only offensive performance of note, going 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI. SoxProspects.com Director of Scouting Ian Cundall attended the game, and he noted that Travis is looking much more comfortable at the plate, and that carried forward to the second game of the doubleheader.

Pawtucket Red Sox 4, Norfolk Tides 0 (Game 2)

A two-hit shutout from Mike Shawaryn and two more hits from Travis led to a convincing win for the PawSox. Shawaryn walked one and struck out six over his seven innings of work. Cundall had his fastball between 91-93 and he noted that he got several swinging strikes on his slider. Travis went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. He was barely hitting over .200 at the end of June, but he has raised his average to .264 over the last six weeks. Rusney Castillo also drove in a run while notching a single and a double, and Josh Ockimey drew two walks and stole a base. 

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Portland Sea Dogs 5, Trenton Thunder 2 (10 innings)
The Sea Dogs entered the bottom of the 10th down by one, but Tate Matheny singled to tie the game and then Luke Tendler crushed a three-run home run to win it. Michael Chavis  and Bobby Dalbec each went 1 for 5 with a double, though Dalbec also struck out four times. Kyle Hart did not factor in the decision but he spun seven shutout innings, walking one and striking out four while giving up six hits. He also picked off two baserunners. Jordan Weems got the win, with the only run he allowed in his two innings was the runner who started the 10th inning on second base. 

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Salem Red Sox 7, Frederick Keys (BAL) 2

The good times continued to roll for Tanner Houck, who improved to 7-11 with seven strong innings. He gave up one run on four hits, striking out seven without walking a batter. His ERA is only 2.06 over his last 35 innings, with six walks and 41 strikeouts. CJ Chatham went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI while Jagger Rusconi drove in two runs with a double in the fifth. 

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NYP South All-Stars 7, NYP North All-Stars 1

Four Spinners players were on the losing end of the New York-Penn League All-Star game, with Devlin Granberg, Tyler Dearden, Korby Batesole and Xavier LeGrant all getting playing time. Granberg singled and Batesole doubled, while Dearden went 0 for 2 but did score a run. LeGrant also went 0 for 2.

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GCL Rays 4, GCL Red Sox 2

The Red Sox could not get much going against Tampa’s first-round pick Matthew Liberatore and finished the game with only two runs. Juan Carlos Abreu had another great performance, going 2 for 4 with a walk and an RBI to raise his average to .345. Catcher Jonathan Diaz went 1 for 4 and added an RBI on his third triple of the season. Gregorio Reyes took the loss after allowing one run over the first three innings, and Yoan Aybar followed by striking out four without surrendering a run over his two innings. Nick Duron gave up two hits but didn't allow a run in his one inning of work, and he has yet to allow a run over his three rehab appearances. 

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DSL Rays1 3, DSL Red Sox1 0 (7 inn., rain)

The Red Sox only managed three hits before the skies opened up and ended this one early. Leonel Jimenez was the only player to reach base multiple times, going 1 for 2 with a walk. Emerson Ortiz threw all six innings for the Red Sox, allowing three runs over six innings with four walks and two strikeouts. 

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DSL Red Sox2 4, DSL Indians 3 (7 inn., rain)

Brayan Bello turned in another dominant start, striking out 11 over six innings while giving up two earned runs. The Indians managed only four hits and didn't draw a walk off of Bello. He now has 68 strikeouts over 64 1/3 innings with an ERA of 1.68. The offense was led by Oscar Rangel, who went 2 for 2 with two doubles, though he was pulled from the game an inning after being thrown out at home trying to score on a single. Ronaldo Pulgar also had a multi-hit game, going 3 for 3 with a run scored. 

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Player of the Night: While Tanner Houck was tremendous, Mike Shawaryn was even better. This is the second time in six starts that he has tossed seven shutout innings, and his ERA is 2.18 with 33 strikeouts over his last 37 1/3 innings. The jump to Pawtucket has not bothered Shawaryn as he is pitching just as well, if not better, since his promotion to Triple-A. 

Photo Credit: Mike Shawaryn by Kelly O'Connor

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