August 18, 2021 at 6:30 AM
Cup of Coffee: Downs and Yorke homer; Muñoz goes hitless
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In the continuation of a suspended game from July 17, the RailRiders held off a late rally. The game was originally suspended after five innings, which is why you will see statistics for old friends like Marcus Wilson and Marcus Walden in the box score. John Schreiber and Brandon Brennan were let down by their defense, with the two combining to allow all seven runs. Only one of them was earned as the WooSox committed five errors. Jeter Downs did hit a two-run home run off of Corey Kluber, and Johan Mieses went 1 for 1 with a walk.
Back-to-back home runs from Downs and Connor Wong in the bottom of the eighth won it for the WooSox. Even with the exciting win, the biggest story was the end of Yairo Muñoz's hitting streak, as he went 0 for 4. He set an organizational record with a hit in 35 straight games. Delino DeShields went 2 for 3 with a double and a stolen base. The stellar pitching was led by Raynel Espinal who went the first seven innings and allowed just one hit and struck out six. Phillips Valdez got the win with a scoreless eighth, and Kaleb Ort pitched the ninth to earn his 12th save.
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Three pitchers combined on a one-hitter, and the offense had 14 hits in a blowout victory. In his third Double-A start, Chris Murphy fired seven innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven. Jose Disla and Tyler Olson tossed an inning apiece to close it out. Two doubles from Triston Casas and a 3-for-3 performance from Pedro Castellanos set the tone at the top of the order. Devlin Granberg only had one hit, but he made it count as it was a two-run home run. Ronaldo Hernández went 2 for 4 with two doubles, and Hudson Potts went 2 for 5 with a double but also struck out twice.
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Greenville Drive @ Rome Braves (ATL), PPD (rain)
Tuesday's game was rained out, and the two teams will play a doubleheader on Wednesday at 5pm.
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Another great game from Nick Yorke led the Red Sox past the Hillcats. Yorke went 2 for 5 with a home run and a double. The home run is his fifth in August, where he's hitting .386/.500/.795. It was also a great night for Nicholas Northcut, who has been warming up after a slow start to the month. He went 3 for 5 with three doubles. It was a bullpen game on the mound, with Casey Cobb tossing three shutout innings to start things off. Joey Stock followed and allowed one run in two innings, and Devon Roedahl earned his eighth save by shutting down the Hillcats for the final five outs.
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A flurry of pitching debuts highlighted an otherwise sloppy game for the Red Sox. 2021 Seventh-rounder Wyatt Olds, 12th-round pick Christopher Troye, and 14th-rounder Jacob Webb all debuted with scoreless frames. Starter Felix Cepeda did not have the same luck, allowing five runs, three earned, in 3 1/3 innings. Brainer Bonaci went 1 for 4 with a double and a stolen base, Miguel Ugueto had a triple and two RBI, and Marcelo Mayer went 1 for 4 with a walk. In the field, Mayer made three errors, giving him four in five games.
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DSL Indians Red @ DSL Red Sox Blue, PPD (wet grounds)
For the second day in a row, both of the DSL games were rained out. The Blue squad has played just eight games this month.
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DSL Red Sox Red @ DSL Rays1, PPD (rain)
The Red squad has also played just eight games this month.
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Player of the Day: It's been a quick adjustment to Double-A for Chris Murphy as the left-hander has an ERA of just 2.12 over 17 innings. He's struck out 21, walked five, and batters are hitting .183 against him. Now ranked 16th in the system, the 23-year-old has come a long way from where he was at the University of San Diego. In his college career, he walked 115 batters in 214 innings, but so far in 2021, he's walked less than three batters per nine innings.
Photo Credit: Chris Murphy by Kelly O'Connor