6/8 Cup of Coffee: There were quite the offensive fireworks in Worcester thanks to Roman Anthony (pictured) to highlight a full slate on Saturday. Portland played a pair of games after some rain, and Dorian Soto continues his strong start in the DSL.
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Worcester Red Sox 10, Rochester Red Wings (WSH) 4After falling behind 4-0 after the top of the first inning, the Worcester offense scored a run in the bottom of the first, one in the second, and three in the third that was capped off with a two-run double by
Ryan Noda to give the WooSox a 5-4 lead after three innings. The score remained the same until the bottom of the eighth inning, where Worcester exploded for five more runs. The cherry on top of the offensive outburst was a
497-foot grand slam by
Roman Anthony that left his bat at 115 mph. The slam was Anthony's 10th home run of the year and his second grand slam of the season to bring his OPS to .916.
Richard Fitts started his first game in AAA after being demoted from Boston and struggled as he allowed four runs in three innings pitched while being charged for six hits allowed and two walks. Wyatt Olds followed Fitts and earned the win with three scoreless frames to go along with three strikeouts.
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In a resumption of a suspended game from Friday night, Portland surrendered runs in each of the first three innings to fall behind and never recover. Every pitcher to appear in the game for the Sea Dogs allowed at least one run with Hayden Mullins, who was charged with the loss allowing a game-high five runs in 2 1/3 innings.
A mostly quiet afternoon with the bats was led by Corey Rosier's two-hit, two-RBI outing coming from a two-run home run in the fifth inning. In three games since returning to Portland, the outfielder has hits in each contest with a home run and three runs driven in.
Similar to its performance in the first game of the day, the Portland offense could only muster three singles in the game from Allan Castro, Ahbram Liendo, and Karson Simas. Jack Anderson took the loss in his third start of the season for the Sea Dogs. The right-hander gave up three runs (two earned runs) across three innings with a walk and four strikeouts.
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Greenville Drive 5, Rome Emperors (ATL) 2It was the Freili Encarnacion game for Greenville as the 20-year-old went 3 for 3 with a three-run home run in the victory. The homer was Encarnacion's first blast since earning a promotion to the Drive. Justin Riemer also recorded a two-hit night and drove in two on a double in the second inning to give Greenville the lead for good. Jonathan Brand was excellent in relief, picking up the win with 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Brand has bounced between Greenville, Portland, and Worcester this year but has posted 6 2/3 innings with the Drive while only allowing a single run.
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Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) 10, Salem Red Sox 5A late eighth-inning rally by Lynchburg trumped what would have been an impressive come-from-behind victory for Salem. Red Sox starter Blake Aita gave up three runs in the first and another one in the second to put his team behind 4-0 in the early going. The score would remain the same until Salem plated two in the sixth and three in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. During the comeback, Natanael Yuten drove in a pair with two run-scoring singles. Taking the lead into the late innings, Joe Vogatsky and Nathanael Cruz combined to give up six runs over the final two frames. Vogatsky was ultimately tagged with the loss.
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FCL Red Sox 5, FCL Twins 1
Johanfran Garcia, who continues his rehab assignment, slugged a two-run home run and added another RBI on a sacrifice fly to power the Red Sox to victory. The home run was Garcia's third of the season pushing his average to .316 and his OPS to .965. Alongside Garcia's outing, D'Angelo Ortiz added two hits to raise his average to .309 and Tavano Baker supplied his own two-hit performance in the win. Yoelvin Chirino took over in relief following scoreless innings from rehabbing Jovani Moran and P.J. Labriola and picked up the win after four innings of work, with one run and six strikeouts added to his line.
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DSL Astros Blue 7, DSL Red Sox Blue 0
It was a tough outing for the Red Sox offense, scattering three singles across seven innings in the loss with two of them coming off the bat of Harold Rivas. Jesus Martinez took the loss after failing to get out of the first inning while being charged with four runs on a single hit, which was a home run, to go along with two walks and a strikeout.
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DSL Red Sox Red 5, DSL Pirates Gold 2
Strong pitching between five pitchers over seven innings along with multi-hit performances from Dorian Soto and Jhorman Bravo powered the Red Sox to its second victory on the young season. Soto's 2-for-2 outing along with a pair of RBIs and a run scored gives him nine hits over his first 19 at bats with four runs driven in. Angelo Ladera grabbed the win in relief, pitching a scoreless 1 2/3 frames while allowing a single baserunner on a hit by pitch and striking out two.
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Player of the Day: In what was nothing short of a seismic home run in significance and literal distance,
Roman Anthony was the talk of Minor League Baseball on Saturday. Boston's top prospect sent an eighth inning grand slam 497 feet into the Worcester night. The blast capped off a 1-for-4 evening with a walk and two runs scored added to his statline. Anthony is now slashing .290/.421/.495 in 57 games this season.
Photo Credit: Roman Anthony by Kelly O'Connor
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