July 27, 2023 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Anthony and Coffey homer; Rafaela extends hitting streak
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Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader at Polar Park was a high-scoring affair. Bobby Dalbec paced the WooSox lineup by connecting on his 23rd and 24th home runs of the season as part of a 2 for 3 afternoon at the plate in which he also drew a walk. Wilyer Abreu and the rehabbing Trevor Story each went 2 for 3, with the former driving in one run and the latter hitting a 386-foot double. Ceddanne Rafaela, meanwhile, went 2 for 4 with two runs scored to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Despite going hitless, Niko Kavadas pushed across a pair of runs out of the nine-hole. Reese McGuire -- who, like Story, is on a rehab assignment -- went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts while catching five innings.
Oddanier Mosqueda served as Worcester's opener and struck out the side in a scoreless first inning. The rehabbing Corey Kluber took over for Mosqueda in the top of the second and served up a three-run home run an inning later. Jake Faria then gave up a three-run homer of his own to old friend Jeter Downs in the fourth. Like Kluber and Faria, Norwith Gudino also got tagged for three runs on three hits and a walk in the top half of the fifth. From there, Cam Booser allowed a run to score on a wild pitch in the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh.
Kyle Barraclough put together yet another strong start for Worcester in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader. The journeyman right-hander scattered four hits, one walk, and one hit batter to go along with four strikeouts over five scoreless innings. He finished with 78 pitches (50 strikes) and induced 14 swings-and-misses en route to improving to 6-0 in a WooSox uniform. In relief of Barraclough, Justin Garza, and Andrew Politi each gave up a run out of the bullpen, but Garza recorded a hold while Politi notched his 10th save of the year.
Ceddanne Rafaela extended his hitting streak to 13 games by going 1 for 3 with an RBI double. Wilyer Abreu collected two RBIs on a pair of run-scoring groundouts while David Hamilton doubled and scored two runs out of the leadoff spot. Ryan Fitzgerald tripled in a run in the sixth inning after pinch-running for the newly-signed Eddy Alvarez in the fifth. Alvarez, who went 1 for 1 with a walk and stolen base, was taken out of the game after injuring himself on the base paths.
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Three members of Portland's starting lineup recorded multiple hits on Wednesday afternoon. Leadoff man Phillip Sikes went 2 for 5 with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored. Out of the five-hole, Nathan Hickey went 2 for 4 with a run-scoring single and run-scoring double. Corey Rosier went 2 for 3 with a pair of singles, though the speedy outfielder also drove in one run, scored another, drew one walk, and stole three bases to bring his season total up to 33. Tyler McDonough swiped one bag as well while Marcelo Mayer extended his hitting streak to seven games with a fourth-inning single.
Sterling Sharp took the loss in his 13th start of the season for the Sea Dogs. The 28-year-old righty surrendered six earned runs on five hits and four walks to go along with four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings of work. Out of the Portland bullpen, Ryan Miller and Joe Jones combined for two scoreless frames of relief. Ryan Zeferjahn, however, issued four walks and allowed a run to score on a successful steal of home in the bottom of the seventh.
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An otherwise solid month of July ended on a sour note for Angel Bastardo. Making his 17th start of the year for Greenville, the Venezuelan-born righty surrendered a season-high six earned runs on six hits, two walks, and six strikeouts over four innings. Of the 84 pitches he threw, 57 went for strikes and four were wild. The Drive bullpen did not fare much better, as Graham Hoffman and Aaron Perry (three earned) were each tagged for four runs. Felix Cepeda put up a zero in the seventh inning while Maceo Campbell recorded the final two outs in the eighth.
The Greenville lineup was limited to just four hits on Wednesday night. Roman Anthony (1 for 4) and Alex Erro (1 for 3) both homered. For Anthony, it was his ninth home run in 26 games at High A. Meanwhile, Erro hit his fifth big fly of the year and added a walk. The only other extra-base hit for the Drive belonged to Max Ferguson, who went 1 for 2 with two walks and a run-scoring triple out of the seven-hole.
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Cutter Coffey finished a triple shy of the cycle in Game 1 of Salem's doubleheader. The 19-year-old leadoff man went 3 for 4 with a double and a seventh-inning home run, his sixth of the season. No. 9 hitter Juan Montero also doubled as part of a 1 for 2 night at the plate in which he scored a run and drew his side's only walk. Albertson Asigen went 2 for 3 with a pair of singles while Jhostynxon Garcia and Albert Feliz each drove in a run.
Jose Ramirez went four innings in his 15th start for Salem. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed five earned runs on four hits, three walks, two hit batters, and zero strikeouts on 78 pitches (44 strikes). Out of the Red Sox bullpen, Nathanael Cruz gave up one run in the top of the fifth before Michael Valera got shelled for three runs two innings later.
Playing as the road team in the makeup of a game that got rained out in Lynchburg earlier this month, Salem had a rough go of it in Game 2 of Wednesday's twin bill. Luis De La Rosa had arguably his worst outing of the season, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits, two walks, and five strikeouts over three innings. The rehabbing Cody Scroggins surrendered an unearned run of his own in the fourth inning before settling down in the fifth. Reidis Sena then got himself in and out of trouble in a scoreless bottom of the sixth to lower his ERA on the year to 1.20.
Alexis Hernandez and Albert Feliz each had two hits for Salem. The former went 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base while the latter also went 2 for 3, though he doubled twice in addition to scoring one run. Cutter Coffey went 1 for 3 with a third-inning single and Albertson Asigen recorded one base hit as well.
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Player of the Day: Between Games 1 and 2 of Salem's doubleheader, Cutter Coffey went 4 for 7 with a double, a home run, one RBI, one run scored, zero walks, and one strikeout on Wednesday. After getting his first full professional season off to a slow start offensively, the right-handed hitting infielder has picked things up as of late and is now batting .297/.375/.469 in July. Coffey, the 41st overall pick in last year's draft, is currently ranked as the No. 27 prospect in the organization.
Photo Credit: Cutter Coffey by Kelly O'Connor