Cup of Coffee: Drohan perfect for Salem as Miller homers twice; Bleis debuts in DSL

7/28 Cup of Coffee: A full slate was scheduled for Tuesday, but Mother Nature intervened in four of the seven contests. The three remaining games were all frustrating losses, none by more than two runs. Shane Drohan was perfect over five innings as the Salem starter before things went sideways despite a herculean effort at the plate by Dean Miller (pictured). The day's biggest news was the debut of Miguel Bleis down in the DSL, the first game action for the highly-touted outfielder. 

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Worcester Red Sox vs. Buffalo Bisons (TOR), postponed

Yairo Munoz will have to wait to try to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, and Kutter Crawford will wait another day for his Triple-A debut. They will try for a doubleheader at Polar Park on Friday.

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Portland Sea Dogs vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR), postponed

These two rivals always seem to bring the rain when they square off: it is the seventh postponement between the Sea Dogs and Fisher Cats of the season. They'll play two on Wednesday unless they don't. 

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Greenville Drive @ Hickory Crawdads (TEX), postponed

A stormy day in Hickory led to Tuesday's contest getting called. They'll join Portland with a doubleheader tomorrow. 

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (CHW) 8, Salem Red Sox 7 (10 innings)

Shane Drohan was the story early on, as the 2020 fifth-round draft pick retired all 15 batters he faced. Drohan struck out four and threw 42 of his 59 pitches for strikes. The Cannon Baller lineup was happy to see the left-hander exit, as they tallied eight runs in five innings off the Salem bullpen. A monster game from Dean Miller kept things close. He knotted the game at 3-3 with a solo homer in the eighth and gave Salem a short-lived 7-6 lead with a three-run blast in the ninth. Miller also doubled, finishing the evening 3 for 4 and breaking out of a 2-for-35 skid. 

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FCL Red Sox @ FCL Braves, postponed

It rained in Florida, too. The teams will try for a doubleheader on August 23.

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DSL Rays2 10, DSL Red Sox Blue 9

Team Blue lost a wild one, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth only to surrender four in the bottom of the frame. Armando Sierra had a big day at the plate, going 3 for 5 with two doubles, two runs scored, and three RBI. Lyonell James matched Sierra's 3-for-5 effort, driving in three runs and adding a double. Johnfrank Salazar had another multi-hit game, going 2 for 3 to raise his average on the year to .417. Jean Carlos Reyes struggled in the start, allowing six runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings.

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DSL Athletics 2, DSL Red Sox Red 0

Though the Red team was shut out, the long-anticipated debut of Miguel Bleis was the story here. Bleis was Boston's top international signing this cycle, as the 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic received a $1.5 million bonus. After missing the first two weeks of the season, Bleis joined the Red lineup, batting second and playing centerfield. He went 1 for 2 with a single and getting hit by a pitch before being removed for a pinch runner. Helison Mota was 3 for 4 on the day out of the ninth spot. Starlin Santos got the start, allowing just one hit across three scoreless, striking out four and walking three.

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Player of the Day: On most days, five perfect innings would be enough to secure this spot, but Shane Drohan fell short behind an incredible performance from Dean Miller. Miller, who entered with just one hit in his last 26 at-bats and was 2 for 35 in July, nearly put Salem on his back with a game-tying homer in the eighth and a go-ahead bomb in the ninth. He recorded 10 total bases, more than one-quarter of his total for the year, raising his slugging percentage from .267 to .352 in just one game. 

Photo Credit: Dean Miller by Bryan Green

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