Cup of Coffee: 7 walks in 5 frames for Hernandez; De La Guerra homers

Cup of Coffee 6/20: Salem and Greenville each had the day off as part of the all-star break, but there was still plenty of action, as Pawtucket played a doubleheader with Durham and the short-season teams continued to play the early parts of their seasons. The stateside teams struggled with the bats, as no team scored more than four runs. However, Darwinzon Hernandez (pictured), Konner Wade and Yusniel Padron-Artiles each turned in strong starts for their teams. On the offensive side, Chad De La Guerra hit his sixth home run of the year in the first half of Pawtucket's doubleheader. 

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Durham Bulls (TB) 3, Pawtucket Red Sox 2 (7 Innings, Game 1)

Pawtucket owned a 2-1 lead headed into the penultimate inning of the first half of a twin bill. However, a pair of two-out RBI charged to Tyler Thornburg made the difference. Darwinzon Hernandez delivered a five-inning start, allowing just one run on two hits. He battled wildness, walking seven while striking out one. Pawtucket recorded six hits off the bats of six hitters. Chad De La Guerra, on a home run, and Rusney Castillo provided the RBI. Steven Wright pitched the seventh and did not allow a run.

Durham Bulls (TB) 5, Pawtucket Red Sox 4 (8 Innings, Game 2)
Ryan Weber threw three strong innings, but allowed the first four hitters he faced to reach base in the fourth inning and was lifted in favor of Bobby Poyner. Four runs would be charged to Weber's tab in three-plus innings of work. Poyner pitched two innings of shutout ball and Trevor Kelley and Bryan Ellington followed with an inning each. However, Domingo Tapia suffered from the runner starting on second base in extra innings, as he gave up just a single, but it was enough to plate the game-winning run. Sam Travis, Josh Ockimey and Nick Lovullo each had two hits.

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Erie SeaWolves (DET) 3, Portland Sea Dogs 2

The offense was lacking on Wednesday for Portland, as the Sea Dogs only notched four hits, two of which came off the bat of Bobby Dalbec. Konner Wade, who hadn't pitched in the minors since 2017 before the Red Sox signed him from the Sugar Land Skeeters, delivered a second consecutive quality start. He allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings pitched, with four strikeouts against one walk. Jordan Weems allowed one hit in his inning of work.

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Lowell Spinners 4, Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM) 2

Yusniel Padron-Artiles delivered a quality start for Lowell, allowing a pair of runs on five hits in six innings. Hildemaro Requena and Kris Jackson pitched two innings and one inning of shutout ball, respectively, to close the game out. Five Spinners hitters had one hit each, with RBI coming from Luke Bandy, Wil Dalton and Ricardo Cubillan.

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DSL Red Sox1 9, DSL Marlins 8

The Red Sox held an 8-0 lead after the seventh-inning stretch, but the Marlins scored four runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings. The Red Sox retook the lead on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth and took the victory. Despite allowing three walks, Wilkelman Gonzalez threw 3 2/3 shutout innings in the start. Jesus Rosillo and Isaisas Ozoria allowed four runs each. Wilker Vargas and Alex Zepte each had two hits.

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DSL Indians 4, DSL Red Sox2 3

The two teams combined for eight hits, seven runs and seven errors in a game where a wild pitch in the fifth inning proved to be the difference. Frailyn Sanchez surrendered all four Indian runs, two of which were earned, in 4 2/3 innings of work. Felix Gomez and Gregori Segovia threw 2 1/3 and two innings of shutout ball, respectively.

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Player of the Day: There were strong pitching performances all around in a day that featured mostly low-scoring games, but Yusniel Padron-Artiles stood out above the rest. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter over six innings of two-run ball. Padron-Artiles was with Greenville for about a month before the Lowell season started, and he pitched to a 5.12 ERA, but had good walk and strikeout numbers over his five appearances. He has gotten off to a hot start with the Spinners, with a 2.25 ERA and 14 strikeouts over his first 12 innings. 

Photo Credit: Darwinzon Hernandez by Kelly O'Connor

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