5/21 Cup of Coffee: The Red Sox affiliates went 3-1 on a night full of impressive debuts in the system. Fresh off a promotion to Triple-A,
Jhostynxon Garcia hit a three-run homer in a WooSox win. The Sea Dogs emerged victorious in a close pitching duel against Reading, with
Yordanny Monegro (pictured) striking out 10 in a phenomenal performance. In the FCL,
Noah Song threw two excellent innings and
Johanfran Garcia drove in a pair of runs in their first appearances of the season.
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The Triple-A debut of 13th-ranked prospect Jhostynxon Garcia headlined Worcester's series opener against the Bulls. Garcia batted third and played center field and he turned in a strong first game for the WooSox, blasting a three-run homer in the eighth and drawing a walk in a 1-for-4 night. Garcia has been slashing .256/.355/.393 in 33 games with Portland prior to his promotion. Worcester's top two prospects also got in on the action as Roman Anthony drilled a solo home run in the sixth inning and was 1 for 3 with two walks, while Marcelo Mayer was 1 for 5 with an RBI single in the eighth.
Starting pitcher Brian Van Belle was in complete control for the WooSox, tossing seven strong innings to earn the win. He allowed one run on four hits, striking out five and walking none to lower his ERA to 3.09 through 35 innings this season. Zack Kelly allowed one run and struck out a batter in 2/3 innings. Isaiah Campbell picked up his fourth save of the season with 1 1/3 shutout innings, allowing a hit and a walk while punching out three batters.
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Sea Dogs starter Yordanny Monegro was absolutely dominant on Tuesday night, striking out ten batters in five scoreless innings. Reidis Sena followed him with a scoreless sixth inning. The rest of the bullpen bent but did not break as Yovanny Cruz and Jeremy Wu-Yelland each allowed one earned run but were able to close out the win for the Sea Dogs. The Sea Dogs lineup was not able to generate much offense, scoring four runs on only three hits on the night, but it was enough to get the job done. All four of Portland's runs came in the fourth inning as Tyler Miller ripped a bases-clearing triple and Ahbram Liendo drove in another run on a sacrifice fly. Miller, Liendo, and Blaze Jordan were the only Portland batters to record a hit.
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Greenville Drive @ Bowling Green Hot Rods (TB) (Postponed)
The series opener in Bowling Green was postponed due to inclement weather on Tuesday night. The Drive and Hot Rods will aim to play a doubleheader on Wednesday.
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Salem lost a heartbreaker against Delmarva on Tuesday night. The Shorebirds got off to a quick start, scoring five runs in the first two innings against Red Sox starter Adam Bates, though Bates was able to settle down and get through 4 1/3 innings. The Salem bullpen held strong in the middle innings, as Nicholas Judice threw a scoreless 1/3 inning, Manuel Medina allowed just one unearned run in two innings, and Joe Vogatsy got through 2 1/3 shutout frames to send the game to extra innings. However, Diego Viloria was unable to hold the Shorebirds in check as he allowed five runs in 1 2/3 innings and took the loss.
After falling into an early hole, Salem put together a five-run rally in the fifth inning featuring RBI singles by Kelvin Diaz, Justin Gonzales, and Andruw Musett, and a two-run triple by Starlyn Nunez. However, the bats fell silent again until the tenth inning. After Delmarva scored three in the top half of the inning, Salem rallied for three runs of their own in the bottom half with Nunez collecting an RBI single and Frederik Jimenez knocking a two-run homer to tie the game. However, the Red Sox were unable to keep the runs coming in the eleventh as Delmarva was able to close out the game. Nunez was the standout for the Salem offense, going 4 for 5 with a run and four RBI.
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Noah Song made his much-anticipated season debut on Tuesday afternoon. A fourth-round pick out of Navy in 2019, Song has persisted through a number of unique challenges to reach this point including enrolling and graduating from flight school, being selected in the Rule 5 draft after three seasons without playing baseball professionally, and undergoing Tommy John Surgery last April. Despite the long layoff, Song looked fantastic, striking out four batters and allowing no runs or hits in two innings. Joey Gartrell followed Song with two innings of relief, allowing a run and striking out three. Merlin Bido was knocked around in the fifth inning, walking three batters and allowing five runs. However, Yermain Ruiz was able to contain the Orioles' bats with three shutout innings, striking out four batters and picking up the win. Tejahari Wilson earned his first save of the season, allowing two runs (one earned) in the ninth inning.
As his brother made his Triple-A debut, Johanfran Garcia made his first appearance of the year after recovering from a knee injury that ended his 2024 season. Batting third and catching, Garcia kicked off the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the second. Shortstop Avinson Pinto had a big game out of the leadoff spot, going 2 for 5 with a walk, two runs scored, and an RBI single in the third.
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Player of the Day: In a pitching duel against Reading, Yordanny Monegro was the star of the show on Tuesday night. In five scoreless innings, Monegro allowed three hits and walked a batter while striking out ten. Monegro, who is ranked as the 25th prospect in the system, lowered his ERA to 2.05 and he has now struck out a remarkable 47 batters through 26 1/3 innings in his first taste of Double-A.
Photo Credit: Yordanny Monegro by Kelly O'Connor
