Cup of Coffee: Errors help FCL Sox; DSL squads battle for last time

8/15 Cup of Coffee: It's another Complex Monday, with some very Complex Monday results. The FCL Red Sox had just six singles on the offensive ledger but used five errors by their opponents to plate four unearned runs and earn the victory. Down in the Dominican Republic, the two Red Sox squads faced off against each other and the game-winning run came in on a balk in a matchup that featured 11 hits, just one of which went for extra bases. Four DSL players in Franklin Arias, Starlyn Nunez, Frederik Jimenez, and Jesus Prado had multiple hits, while DSL Blue got a strong pitching performance from the combination of Yeferson Vargas and Ruben De La Cruz.

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FCL Red Sox 8, FCL Pirates 2

The Red Sox had just six hits, all of which were singles, and six more walks, including two free passes worked by Antonio Anderson in his professional debut, but five errors by the Pirates helped the home team come back from a 2-0 deficit and cruise comfortably to victory. Stanley Tucker scored three runs at the top of the lineup and brought in a pair of runners with a base knock in the sixth, while Kristian Campbell had another hit to stay hot. He is 7 for 11 as a professional after being selected with the No. 132 overall pick in July.

Francis Hernandez got the afternoon started with a clean first inning, handing the ball to a trio of multi-inning relievers throughout the day. All of the Pirates' damage came against Darlyn De La Cruz, as he allowed a pair of runners to score in his three-inning stint. He coughed up four hits and walked three batters. Jogly Garcia handled the fifth, sixth, and seventh with little issue and Yonfi Rodriguez closed the game out with two innings of work, though he walked three batters, so there was some traffic.

The win brought the Red Sox to within two games of the Pirates in the FCL South Division, while they hold on to a half-game lead over the Phillies and a percentage points advantage over the Braves in the Wild Card for a playoff berth. The Red Sox have seven games left, including two against the Braves.

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FCL Red Sox Blue 4, FCL Red Sox 1 (7 Innings)

Monday was an intra-organizational day in the Dominican Republic, as the two DSL squads faced off, with Blue coming out on top in a seven-inning affair. The teams combined for only 11 hits and just one extra-base knock, including just three for Red. Franklin Arias had two of those hits, while he was joined by Starlyn Nunez, Frederik Jimenez, and Jesus Prado in the other dugout as members of the multi-hit club.

 

The game-winning run came home in the second inning on a balk by Wuilliams Rodriguez, plating Jimenez. He worked 1 2/3 innings for Red, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk. He did not strike out a batter. The other two runs came in on Cristofer Soriano, who had the runs scored in 2 1/3 frames. Yeferson Vargas did most of the pitching for Blue, with just an unearned run over 4 2/3 innings of work, striking out six. He was followed by Ruben De La Cruz, who didn't allow a hit over the remainder of the game.

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Player of the Day: Debuting at No. 54 on the SoxProspects.com list, Kristian Campbell has had a scorching start to his professional career after being selected in the fourth compensatory round in the 2023 MLB Draft. He was a shining star on a middling Georgia Tech team, slashing .376/.484/.549 in 173 at-bats, and has kept it up since switching to wood bats. He's 7 for 11 in his first four professional games after picking up another base knock on Monday. If the shortstop can continue to hit, he has some upside with the athleticism to play multiple defensive positions.

Photo Credit: Kristian Campbell by Georgia Tech Athletics.

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