September 9, 2022 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Mayer goes deep, Mieses clobbers grand slam
9/9 Cup of Coffee: On an off-day for the big-league club, Boston's minor-league affiliates went a collective 3-2 on Thursday. In Game 2 of a doubleheader against Lehigh Valley, Worcester's Johan Mieses belted a grand slam and drove in a game-high five runs. In Portland, Thaddeus Ward struck out five and allowed one run over five innings while Alex Binelas and Izzy Wilson both homered. In Greenville, top prospect Marcelo Mayer (pictured) homered for the 13th time this season as part of a two-hit night while Jordan DiValerio tossed three perfect innings of relief. And in Salem, Eddinson Paulino, Mikey Romero, and Luis Ravelo all registered multi-hit games.
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Victor Santos made his sixth start for Worcester in Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed four earned runs on five hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with three strikeouts over four innings of work. All four of those runs came in the third inning. In relief of Santos, Jake Thompson struck out one in a scoreless fifth inning before Durbin Feltman served up a solo homer to Johan Camargo in the sixth.
Worcester's lone run in Game 1 came on a solo home run off the bat of Jarren Duran in the sixth inning. Duran went 1 for 3, as did Johan Mieses and Ryan Fitzgerald. Nick Sogard reached base two times via a second-inning single and seventh-inning walk.
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In Game 2 of Thursday's twin bill, Johan Mieses led the charge offensively by going 2 for 5 with five RBIs. He hit a grand slam in the third inning and an RBI double in the top of the fourth. Bobby Dalbec went 2 for 5 with an RBI, a walk, and two runs scored. Christin Stewart, Kole Cottam, and Nick Sogard also drove in runs while Jaylin Davis drew three walks and crossed the plate twice.
Brian Keller pitched well in his 20th start of the season for Worcester. The 28-year-old right-hander yielded just one run on two hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with four strikeouts over six quality innings. The lone run he gave up came on a Dustin Peterson home run. Out of the Worcester bullpen, Frank German ensured a doubleheader split by striking out one in a scoreless seventh inning.
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Izzy Wilson turned in a solid night at the plate for Portland, going 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored out of the nine-hole. He hit his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning and accounted for his side's only double. Alex Binelas also homered and drew a walk while Wilyer Abreu and Hudson Potts each had multiple hits. Potts went 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Thaddeus Ward made his seventh start of the season for Portland on Thursday night. The 25-year-old right-hander surrendered just one unearned run on four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts over five solid innings. He threw 93 pitches (60 strikes) while lowering his ERA with the Sea Dogs to 2.43. In relief of Ward, Cody Scroggins gave up two runs in the top of the sixth before Jacob Wallace, Brendan Nail, and Michael Gettys combined for 3 1/3 scoreless frames. Gettys earned the save by retiring the side in order in the ninth.
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Greenville reached the 50-win plateau on Thursday thanks to multi-hit efforts from Marcelo Mayer and Gilberto Jimenez. Mayer went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, as he hit his 13th home run of the season in the fourth inning and drove in another with an RBI single in the fifth. Jimenez went 2 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Max Ferguson also swiped one bag and scored two runs while Jaxx Groshans went 1 for 4 with a run-scoring double. Matthew Lugo stole two bases to get to 20 on the season.
Chih-Jung Liu picked up his fourth winning decision of the season. The Taiwanese-born righty allowed four runs on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with seven strikeouts over six innings of work. Three of the eight hits he gave up left the yard. Out of the Greenville bullpen, Jordan DiValerio struck out six of the nine batters he faced en route to picking up the first save of his professional career.
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Nathanael Cruz made his 10th start for Salem and allowed one run on three hits, two walks, and two strikeouts over three innings. The 19-year-old righty threw 51 pitches (23 strikes). In relief of Cruz, Gabriel Jackson gave up four runs (one earned) across four innings while Blake Loubier and Christopher Troye each got tagged for two. Loubier was charged with the blown save and Troye was charged with the loss.
Eddinson Paulino doubled and Mikey Romero tripled with their only hits of the night. Luis Ravelo drove in two runs with his two-run double in the first inning. In addition to Ravelo and Romero, Brainer Bonaci, Allan Castro, and Daniel McElveny each drove in a run.
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Player of the Day: Since the calendar flipped to September, Marcelo Mayer has gone 9 for 24 (.375) with three extra-base hits, six RBIs, four runs scored, one stolen base, five walks, and five strikeouts over his last six games for Greenville. The 19-year-old shortstop is currently ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the organization.
Photo Credit: Marcelo Mayer by Kelly O'Connor