July 5, 2023 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Binelas homers in third straight game; Barraclough flirts with no-no
7/5 Cup of Coffee: To celebrate Independence Day, Boston's minor-league affiliates went 3-1 on Tuesday. There were some solid pitching performances across the board, as Kyle Barraclough tossed a gem for Worcester and Jedixson Paez fired five scoreless innings for Salem. On the other side of the ball, Alex Binelas (pictured) nearly hit for the cycle in Portland and Enmanuel Valdez homered in his return to the WooSox lineup. Elsewhere, Greenville's series opener was suspended in the fourth inning due to inclement weather, while both Dominican Summer League squads were also impacted by rain.
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Kyle Barraclough flirted with perfection in his third start of the season for Worcester. The journeyman right-hander took a bid for a perfect game into the fifth inning before issuing a two-out walk to old friend Jaylin Davis. He then took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before issuing another two-out walk to Rafael Ortega and serving up a two-run home run to Ronny Mauricio. All told, though, Barraclough allowed just those two earned runs on one hit and two walks to go along with 10 strikeouts over six stellar innings. His ERA actually increased, but he still improved to 3-0 as a member of the WooSox. In relief of Barraclough, Cam Booser put up a zero in the seventh and Ryan Fernandez got tagged for three runs in the eighth before Andrew Politi slammed the door on Syracuse in the ninth to earn his seventh save of the season.
After being held out of action for the last week-plus due to a left thumb injury, Enmanuel Valdez made his impact felt in his return to Worcester's lineup on Tuesday night. The 24-year-old second baseman went 3 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored, and a walk out of the cleanup spot. The rehabbing Pablo Reyes also homered as part of a two-hit effort in which he scored two runs as the designated hitter. Fellow rehabber Yu Chang went 2 for 5 with a run scored while playing all nine innings at shortstop. The bottom of the lineup also did damage, as Daniel Palka and Narciso Crook combined to drive in four runs out of the eight- and nine-holes, respectively. Palka and Ceddanne Rafaela (making his Polar Park debut) each stole a base as well.
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Alex Binelas put together his first three-hit game of the season for Portland at Hadlock Field. The 23-year-old corner infielder went 3 for 4 with a double, a two-run home run, and two runs scored out of the seven-hole. The homer was his 10th of the season and the third in his last three games. Corey Rosier also went deep and made his only hit of the night count by crushing a three-run home run in the second inning. The speedy outfielder stole his 28th base of the year as well. Matthew Lugo went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Isaac Coffey went five innings and picked up the win in his third start of the season for Portland. The 23-year-old righty allowed three earned runs on four hits, two walks, and one hit batsman with seven strikeouts on 88 pitches (59 strikes). All three of those runs came on a three-run homer off the bat of Rowdey Jordan with one out in the top of the fifth. Out of the Sea Dogs bullpen, Ryan Zeferjahn and Luis Guerrero combined to punch out seven over four scoreless frames to close it out.
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Tuesday's series opener between Rome and Greenville at Fluor Field was suspended in the middle of the fourth inning due to rain. The final five innings will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday night. Prior to the postponement, Bradley Blalock had allowed one run through four innings in his third start of the season for the Drive. On the flip side, Brainer Bonaci had recorded two hits and one RBI in his first two trips to the plate. Blaze Jordan, Tyler Miller, and Ronald Rosario had also driven in one run apiece.
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Jedixson Paez did not allow a run in his 10th start of the season for Salem. In the process of lowering his ERA on the year down to 4.57, the Venezuelan-born righty scattered three hits over five scoreless innings while not walking a single batter. Interestingly enough, he only recorded one strikeout while finishing with 57 pitches (36 strikes). Out of the Red Sox bullpen, Gabriel Jackson yielded just one run across three innings of relief before Railin Perez allowed one unearned run and notched his first save of the season in the ninth.
Four members of Salem's starting lineup had two or more hits on Tuesday. Designated hitter Albert Feliz led the way by going 3 for 4 with an RBI double and run scored. Allan Castro also drove in a run as part of a two-hit effort in which he stole two bases. Out of the nine-hole, Albertson Asigen went 2 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Starting catcher Enderso Lira went 2 for 4 with a run scored as well and he also threw out a would-be base stealer in the bottom of the fourth inning.
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It was a quiet day offensively for the FCL squad at the Pirate City Complex in Bradenton. Johnfrank Salazar accounted for his side's lone RBI with a run-scoring groundout in the fourth inning. Johanfran Garcia's fourth-inning double was the Red Sox' only extra-base hit. Despite going hitless, Mikey Romero drew two walks and scored one run in what could be the final game of his rehab assignment.
Wandy Abreu took the loss on the bump after surrendering seven earned runs on nine hits over 3 1/3 innings. Yonfi Rodriguez recorded the next five outs before Jogly Garcia served up a solo homer to the pinch-hitting Miguel Sosa in the bottom of the seventh. The rehabbing Matt Litwicki then faced the minimum in a scoreless eighth inning.
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This contest was suspended due to inclement weather in the bottom of the first inning. Raimundo De Los Santos had just drawn a leadoff walk off Tigers starter Moises Rodriguez before both sides were called off the field on account of lightning in the area. On the other side of things, Red Sox starter Obed Balderas had scattered two hits and struck out one in a scoreless top of the first. The game is scheduled to be completed on July 8.
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DSL Red Sox Red, DSL Tigers 2 (Postponed)
This contest was unsurprisingly postponed due to rain. It will be made up on July 25.
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Player of the Day: Alex Binelas has been on a heater as of late. Following Tuesday's three-hit performance, the left-handed hitting slugger is now batting .300 (12 for 40) with three doubles, six home runs, 12 RBIs, nine runs scored, and three stolen bases in his last 10 games for the Sea Dogs dating back to June 22. Originally acquired alongside David Hamilton in the December 2021 Jackie Bradley Jr./Hunter Renfroe trade with the Brewers, Binelas possesses plus-to-better raw power.
Photo Credit: Alex Binelas by Kelly O'Connor