April 22, 2023 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Bastardo strikes out 11; Lugo homers
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The Worcester bats were cold, collecting only four hits over 11 innings. Enmanuel Valdez was back in the lineup after a cameo in Boston, and he went 1 for 5 with a triple and an RBI. David Hamilton went 1 for 4 with an RBI and his 11th steal of the year. Matt Dermody turned in a quality start, allowing three runs over six innings. AJ Politi, Brennan Bernardino, and Ryan Sherriff kept the game tied with a combined four shutout innings, but the IronPigs got to Norwith Gudiño for a run in the 11th to win it. Bernardino made his organizational debut after being claimed off waivers from Seattle on the 16th.
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Reading put up crooked numbers in the fourth and sixth innings in a convincing win over Portland. Starter Chih-Jung Liu retired nine of the first 10 batters to start the game before the wheels fell off in the fourth. He was responsible for seven runs on four hits and three walks in 3 2/3. Rio Gomez surrendered three runs over 1 1/3 innings before Skylar Arias and Dylan Spacke struck out four over two shutout innings each. Portland struggled offensively against Mick Abel, except for Matthew Lugo. Lugo went 2 for 3 with a double and his first home run of the year.
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Angel Bastardo was a tough-luck loser on Friday in one of the best starts of his career. Bastardo allowed two hits and walked two over six innings of two-run ball while striking out 11. The 11 strikeouts are a career high for Bastardo. Robert Kwiatkowski and Alex Hoppe followed with a scoreless inning apiece. Tyler Miller had three of Greenville's six hits as he went 3 for 4 with a double. Blaze Jordan went 1 for 3 with a triple and a walk, and Nathan Hickey went 1 for 4 with a double.
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A walk-off single from Cutter Coffey scored Miguel Bleis to win the game in extra innings. Coffey had two hits and two RBI, while Bleis went 1 for 5 with a steal. Roman Anthony went 0 for 4 but still managed to steal two bases. It has been a rough start to the year for Luis Perales, but he took a step in the right direction against the Hillcats. Perales allowed two runs (one earned) over four innings while walking three and striking out four. The four innings are the longest outing of his career to date. The win went to Marques Johnson, who worked around the zombie runner in the 10th.
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Player of the Day: Angel Bastardo struck out 11 in an impressive performance for Greenville. The 56th-ranked prospect in the system, Bastardo signed for $35,000 out of Venezuela in 2018. The 20-year-old made his full-season debut in 2022 for Salem and struck out over a batter per inning but also struggled with his command and control. It has been more of the same to start 2023 before his dominant performance on Friday. He is now up to 21 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings and had 24 swings and misses in 83 pitches against Greensboro.
Photo Credit: Angel Bastardo by Kelly O'Connor