Cup of Coffee: Mayer debuts, Groome dominates, and Yorke homers

8/6 Cup of Coffee: The highlight of the day was the debut of Marcelo Mayer, though there were plenty of other good performances to go around. Greenville held Rome to one hit behind a dominant start from Jay Groome (pictured). Christian Koss provided all the offense for the Drive as he hit three home runs. Nick Yorke homered for Salem while Chih-Jung Liu had a strong start, and Phillip Sikes and Tyler Miller also debuted in the FCL. 

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Worcester Red Sox 5, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 3 (11 innings)

Raynel Espinal pitched well against his old team, striking out nine and walking one over six innings of two-run ball. Kaleb Ort, also a former RailRider, struck out four over two scoreless innings. The win went to Seth Blair, his second of the season. 

Yairo Muñoz's hit streak moved to 27 games as he went 1 for 6. Jhonny Pereda knocked in the go-ahead run in the 11th, and Chad De La Guerra hit a pinch-hit RBI single that would prove to be the winning run. Joey Meneses just got back from Tokyo where was playing for Team Mexico in Olympics. He was promptly promoted to Worcester and debuted for the WooSox on Thursday. He went 1 for 5 with an RBI and three strikeouts. 

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Binghamton Rumble Ponies (NYM) 4, Portland Sea Dogs 3

The Sea Dogs struck out 14 times without drawing a walk in a tough loss to Binghamton. Starter Josh Winckowski pitched into the seventh, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Tyler Olson finished off the game with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Kole Cottam went 3 for 4 with two doubles and Wil Dalton went 2 for 4 with a double. 

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Greenville Drive 4, Rome Braves (ATL) 0

All four runs in the game were driven in by Christian Koss who hit three home runs. He finished the day going 3 for 5 and is now up to nine home runs on the year. Jay Groome had one of his best starts of the year and was rewarded with his first win. Groome allowed just one hit over five shutout innings, striking out six without walking a batter. Jacob Wallace followed by striking out four over two scoreless frames, and Zach Bryant struck out three in his two innings as he extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings. 

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Salem Red Sox 9, Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) 7

The Red Sox launched three home runs in support of Chih-Jung Liu. Nick Yorke, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Jecorrah Arnold all went deep, and Gilberto Jimenez went 2 for 4 with a walk. The home run was the fourth of the year for Yorke and his first since July 6. 

Liu's rollercoaster time in Salem continued, and on Thursday he was on top of his game. He struck out five and walked one in five scoreless innings. His ERA is now 6.35, though he has allowed two runs or less in four of his six starts. Robert Kwiatkowski and Ryan Fernandez were roughed up for seven runs, but Jacinto Arredondo locked things down in the ninth for his fourth save. 

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FCL Orioles Black 6, FCL Red Sox 4 (Game One)

Eddinson Paulino continued his hot hitting, and Phillip Sikes had a strong debut, but it was not enough to topple the Orioles. Paulino raised his average .440 and his OPS to 1.205 by going 2 for 3 with a double. Sikes, who was drafted in the 18th round this year, went 1 for 3 with two RBI and had an outfield assist at home as the left fielder. Bryan Gonzalez reached base twice going 1 for 3 with a walk. The defense let Felix Cepeda down as he struck out six over four innings but gave up three runs (one earned). The rocky start continued for Blake Loubier as he was tagged for three runs in 1 2/3 innings. 

FCL Red Sox 7, FCL Orioles Black 3 (Game Two)

The professional debut for Marcelo Mayer did not include a hit, but Boston's first-round pick did reach base three times. He walked in each of his first three plate appearances, scoring one run as the starting shortstop. Also debuting was the third baseman, Tyler Miller. Drafted in the ninth round out of Auburn, Miller went 2 for 2 with a double, walk, and a hit by pitch. Gabriel Jackson struck out three in three scoreless innings as his ERA moved to a minuscule 1.04 over his first five appearances. 

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DSL Red Sox Red @ DSL Royals Blue, Suspended (rain)

The two teams made it to the fourth inning before the rain came in, with the Red Sox leading 2-1. The teams were slated to play a doubleheader on Thursday, and the second game was postponed as well. 

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DSL Royals White @ DSL Red Sox Blue, Suspended (rain)

This game made it into the bottom of the second before being suspended. There is no word yet on when the game will resume. 

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Player of the Day: Christian Koss had never had a multi-home run game in his career, but he delivered three home runs on Thursday. Koss now has an OPS over 1.000 since the 4th of July, with eight home runs in 25 games. The 23-year-old was acquired from Colorado for Yoan Aybar at the end of 2020. After a slow start to the season that saw him hit .203 over his first 14 games, Koss is now up to .281/.339/.452. 

Photo Credit: Jay Groome by Kelly O'Connor

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