Cup of Coffee: Campbell homers to cap off blistering week; Arias delivers a walk-off

7/28 Cup of Coffee: All three completed games were decided in the ninth inning. Both the Worcester and Greenville games had walk-off singles, though Worcester was on the losing end, and Salem took a tough loss to the RiverDogs. Kristian Campbell turned in his best week since April as he had three hits and a home run on Sunday. Kyle Harrison struggled with his command, while the rain spoiled Ronald Rosario's power surge. 

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St. Paul Saints (MIN) 10, Worcester Red Sox 9

A late-inning meltdown gave the Saints the win. Worcester was up 9-2 after six innings, but gave up six runs in the seventh and a walk-off single in the ninth. The starting infield had a dominant game offensively for the WooSox. First baseman Kristian Campbell went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBI, and second baseman Vaughn Grissom went 2 for 5 with a home run and a stolen base. Third baseman Blaze Jordan joined in on the action by hitting his sixth homer, and Nick Sogard was on base four times with a single and three walks. Sogard added a steal, though he and Grissom committed an error. Catcher Seby Zavala also went deep as part of a 2-for-3 game with a walk. 

Starter Kyle Harrison did not make it out of the fourth inning despite only allowing two runs on four hits. He walked a career-high six as he threw 48 of his 86 pitches for strikes. All the damage in the seventh came off of Austin Adams, and Hobie Harris blew the save and took the loss in the ninth. 

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Portland Sea Dogs @ Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF), Canceled 

This game started, but after a rain delay, it was canceled. Ronald Rosario should take issue with this, as he had already homered after launching two on Saturday. 

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Greenville Drive 4, Hub City Spartanburgers (TEX) 3

Franklin Arias drove in the tying run in the seventh and the winning run in the ninth in a comeback win for the Drive. The run in the seventh scored on a fielder's choice, and his single in the ninth scored a run after two walks and a hit-by-pitch had loaded the bases. Johanfran Garcia went 1 for 4 with a solo home run, Nelly Taylor went 2 for 4 with a double, and Freili Encarnacion went 2 for 3 with a stolen base. Starter Shea Sprague allowed three runs over four frames, and Danny Kirwin struck out three over three innings of one-hit ball. 

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Charleston RiverDogs (TB) 6, Salem Red Sox 5

It was a tale of two debuts for Jesus Travieso and Jose Bello, as both got called up after the FCL season ended. Travieso got the start but was tagged for four runs on seven hits over 2 1/3 innings. Bello came on in relief and shut Charleston out in his 3 2/3 frames. Nicolas De La Cruz fired two scoreless innings before Eybersson Polanco gave up the lead with two runs in the ninth. The Red Sox plated four runs in the first on a two-run single from Yoeilin Cespedes and a two-run home run by Andruw Musett. Starlyn Nunez went 2 for 4 with a double, and Justin Gonzales went 3 for 5. 

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Player of the Day: Worcester's offense provided several candidates, with Kristian Campbell ultimately getting the nod. The 23-year-old posted an OPS over .900 in his first 100 big-league at-bats, but he struggled mightily before he was sent back down to Worcester. His first 20 games with the WooSox were underwhelming, with a line of .186/.352/.300, but he broke out in a big way this week. In six games, he hit .478/.538/.783 with two home runs. Campbell is primarily playing first base for Worcester, and Boston fans will hope this is the beginning of a turnaround for the former second-ranked prospect. 

Photo Credit: Kristian Campbell by Kelly O'Connor

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