8/16 Cup of Coffee: The DSL Red Sox Red earned the organization's first playoff spot of the 2024 season with its victory over the second-place DSL Reds. Their Blue counterparts got the victory in the completion of an earlier suspended game before falling the in the scheduled one. Back stateside,
Noah Dean (
pictured) and
Jedixson Paez teamed up to lead Greenville in a pitcher's duel.
Nathan Hickey helped power the streaking Sea Dogs, while
Franklin Arias had a big night for Salem. Worcester fell at Polar Park despite a big effort by a rehabbing
Triston Casas.
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Worcester could not generate much in the way of offense in this contest cut short in the seventh inning by rain. Triston Casas had two of the three WooSox hits, picking up his seventh double in game 11 of his rehab stint. Chase Meidroth had the only other Worcester hit, adding a walk and scoring a run. Justin Hagenman got the start, surrendering three runs on eight hits in four innings, getting saddled with the loss.
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Nathan Hickey led the way as the Sea Dogs won for the 17th time in 19 games. Hickey was 2 for 3 with two doubles, two walks, two RBI, and a run scored. Jhostynxon Garcia went 2 for 5 in his second straight multi-hit effort, while Allan Castro singled, walked, and stole a base. Tyler Miller was 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles in the victory. Caleb Bolden turned in a solid spot start, scattering two hits over four scoreless innings, striking out five against two walks. Jacob Webb got the win, allowing three runs (two earned) in four innings of relief, while Christopher Troye threw a scoreless ninth for the save.
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The Drive offense mustered only four hits, but that was sufficient because of some excellent work by their trio of hurlers. Starter Noah Dean was dominant, giving up just one hit across four shutout innings. He struck out seven of the 16 batters he faced, walking one and hitting two with pitches. Jedixson Paez allowed one run on five hits in four innings, striking out four without granting a walk. Adam Smith went a scoreless inning to earn the save. Zach Ehrhard, Boston's fourth-round pick in July's draft, led the offense with two hits.
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Salem took advantage of some extra opportunities as the Nationals committed six errors in Thursday's contest, including two during a critical three-run rally in the sixth. Franklin Arias was 3 for 5 out of the leadoff slot and is now 8 for 18 in his last four games after snapping an ugly 3-for-42 skid. Natanael Yuten was 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Nelly Taylor scored a pair of runs during his 1-for-4 performance. Eduardo Rivera got the call for the spot start and turned in a serviceable effort, allowing two runs on three hits in four innings. Michael Sansone was the winner in relief, throwing two hitless innings and walking a pair against two strikeouts.
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Team Red withstood a ninth-inning rally to punch their playoff ticket. Justin Gonzales blasted a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Sox a lead they would not relinquish. It was Gonzales' fifth round-tripper of the year and his first since shifting over from the DSL Blue team. Anderson Fermin and Avinson Pinto helped set the table at the top of the order with two hits apiece. Starter Madinson Frias went the first four innings, giving up one run on three hits. Yoandys Veraza cruised through four scoreless but allowed the first two batters to reach in the ninth inning. Anthony Felix allowed both inherited runners to score, bringing the game within one, but prevented any additional damage.
The win clinched the DSL West Division over the second-place DSL Reds. The 39-14 Sox trail the DSL Giants by a half-game in the chase for the top overall seed, with three games remaining in the regular-season schedule.
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This one started with one out in the top of the 10th inning after lightning forced a suspension with a 5-5 tie after nine back on July 8. After six weeks of delay, Team Blue didn't need even a hit to emerge victorious. Automatic runner Yoiber Ruiz advanced to third on a ground out and raced home with the winning run on a wild pick. The key player for the Blue team's win has been out of the organization for three weeks. Moises Bolivar had a monster effort, going 3 for 3 with a triple, two walks, two RBI, and a run scored. He was traded just before the deadline to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deal that sent James Paxton to Boston. Gilbel Galvan took over on the mound upon the game's resumption and recorded two outs for the win.
Little went Team Blue's way in the regularly scheduled contest. Tavano Baker and Justim Sojo both picked up a double, while Vladimir Asencio snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a fifth-inning single. Starter Trent Wilson struggled with his control, walking four batters and allowing one hit as he surrendered two runs in 2/3 of an inning.
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Player of the Day: After allowing nine runs in 4 1/3 innings in his last two bullpen outings,
Noah Dean found success back in the rotation for his first Greenville start. The 2022 fifth-round pick was nearly unhittable in his four innings. His ranks second in the organization with 107 strikeouts, and his 34.7 percent K rate places him third among pitchers with at least 50 innings on the year. Over his last 12 starts across two levels, Dean has struck out 75 batters in just 49 innings while allowing a meager .179 slugging percentage.
Photo Credit: Noah Dean by Kelly O'Connor
