May 13, 2022 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Yorke homers for second straight game, Jordan and Paulino combine for four hits
5/13 Cup of Coffee: Boston affiliates went a collective 1-3 on Thursday. Jaylin Davis hit his first home run of the season for Worcester, Pedro Castellanos and Jay Groome impressed on opposite sides of the spectrum for Portland, Nick Yorke (pictured) homered once again for Greenville, and Gabriel Jackson put together a solid outing for Salem.
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Worcester dropped its seventh straight game following Thursday's loss to Rochester at Polar Park. Rhode Island native Thomas Pannone made his sixth start and seventh overall appearance of the season and allowed two runs on five hits, no walks, and three strikeouts over five innings. Darin Gillies took over for Pannone in the sixth and surrendered four runs while recording four outs. Eduard Bazardo and Durbin Feltman combined for 2 2/3 scoreless frames to close things out.
The Worcester lineup scored its only two runs in the first inning on a two-run home run off the bat of Jaylin Davis. Davis went 1 for 4 with his first homer while Jarren Duran, Jeter Downs, Triston Casas, and Ronaldo Hernandez accounted for Worcester's other four hits. Downs also stole his fifth base of the season.
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Portland dropped to 14-16 on the season by falling to Hartford in 11 innings. Jay Groome, making his fifth start and sixth overall appearance of the season, surrendered two earned runs on two hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings of work. Sixty-one of the 94 pitches the 23-year-old southpaw threw went for strikes. In relief of Groome, Chase Shugart tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames out of the Portland bullpen before Brendan Nail allowed Hartford to walk it off on a sacrifice bunt in its half of the 11th inning.
Offensively, Portland was held to just two runs on the night. Both of those runs came on a two-run home run off the bat of Pedro Castellanos in the fourth inning. That was Castellanos' only hit of the contest. Tyler Dearden was the only member of Portland's lineup to record more than one hit as he went 2 for 3 with a walk.
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Nick Yorke led things off for Greenville with his fourth home run of the season and third homer in his last four games as part of a 2 for 5 night at the plate. Tyler McDonough also accounted for two hits and one RBI while Tyler Esplin went 0 for 4 with an RBI and one run scored. Gilberto Jimenez and Antoni Flores combined to draw five walks and score two runs.
Brian Van Belle got rocked for eight earned runs on 10 hits, no walks, and three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings. Through seven starts this season, the 25-year-old right-hander has posted an ERA of 8.82. In relief of Van Belle, Jordan DiValerio and Casey Cobb both gave up two runs out of the Greenville bullpen.
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Gabriel Jackson led the way on the mound by yielding just one earned run on four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts across five innings of work in his sixth start of the year for Salem. Adenys Bautista and Joey Stock followed by combining for four scoreless frames out of the bullpen as stock earned his second save of the season.
On the other side of things, Salem scored four of its five runs in the third inning. Miguel Ugueto's lone hit was good for an RBI double while Blaze Jordan, Eduardo Vaughan, and Jose Garcia also drove in runs in the top half of the third. Jordan and Eddinson Paulino combined for four hits and Garcia went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Nathan Hickey also drew three walks while serving as Salem's designated hitter.
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Player of the Day: After a slow start to his second full professional season, Nick Yorke is now batting .268/.318/.610 in the month of May. The 20-year-old second baseman did not hit a single home run in April but has now clubbed two in his last two games for Greenville.
Photo Credit: Nick Yorke by Kelly O'Connor