August 10, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Sprague dominates in Greenville, Portland wins in extra-inning fashion
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The WooSox offense had a tough task as they faced former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who is continuing a rehab assignment after he was traded to the Blue Jays. Worcester was able to put a pair of runs against the right-hander as back-to-back doubles by Seby Zavala and Nick Sogard gave them their first run of the afternoon in the third, followed by Nathan Hickey's 13th home run of the season in the fifth. The score was tied 2-2 heading into the late innings before Buffalo scored once in the seventh inning. Worcester responded in the bottom of the eighth as a balk with Jhostynxon Garcia on third base allowed him to come home with the tying run.
Jovani Moran came in to pitch the ninth inning and took the loss after he gave up four hits in the inning, including a two-run single, to put the WooSox behind again. Only this time, they were unable to mount another comeback. Sogard led the way for Worcester with two of the team's four hits on the afternoon. Hickey's home run matches his season total from last season, while Trayce Thompson brought back a home run with a leaping grab at the wall in center field in the seventh inning. Richard Fitts started the game and pitched four innings, striking out eight while allowing two runs on five hits. Brennan Bernardino pitched a scoreless fifth before David Sandlin continued to ramp up as a reliever with two innings pitched. Sandlin was charged with a run on three hits with one strikeout during his outing while reaching 99 mph.
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Despite seeing leads in both the ninth and 10th innings slip away, Portland rebounded to snap a three-game losing streak. The Sea Dogs struck first in the first inning on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Ronald Rosario. After Harrisburg knotted the score in the fifth, Portland took the lead again on an RBI single by Allan Castro to score Max Ferguson. Reidis Sena and Jack Anderson were brilliant over the first six innings. Sena pitched the first and second frames with no runs allowed with a pair of strikeouts. Anderson pitched four frames while being tagged for a run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Leading 2-1 in the ninth inning, Yovanny Cruz aimed to record a three-inning save, but allowed the tying run to score on a sacrifice fly to send the game to extra innings. Portland scored the extra-inning baserunner in the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Caden Rose to plate Juan Chacon. Cooper Adams took the mound in the 10th and allowed the tying run to score to send it to an 11th inning before Portland took the lead for good on another sacrifice fly, this time from Castro that scored Marvin Alcantara. Adams eventually picked up the win in relief, pitching the 10th and 11th innings with an unearned run allowed along with a hit and two walks.
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The Greenville pitching staff was dominant in their shutout victory. Shea Sprague started and was brilliant across 5 2/3 innings of work. The left-hander allowed two hits with one walk and four strikeouts without allowing a run while throwing 49 of his 74 pitches for strikes. Danny Kirwin followed Sprague and earned the win in relief, contributing 2 1/3 frames of scoreless work with two strikeouts, a walk and two hit batters. Isaac Stebens earned his eighth save of the season after working a scoreless ninth.
The Drive got their lone run of the evening in the bottom of the eighth inning. After three straight walks by Freili Encarnacion, Andruw Musett, and Justin Riemer, Fraymi De Leon grounded into a double play but plated Encarnacion in the process. Henry Godbout continued his strong start to his professional career with a 1-for-3 outing while also being hit by a pitch. Through his first three games, Boston's second-round pick from this summer's draft carries a 1.310 OPS through 14 plate appearances.
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Powered by a four-run second inning, Salem took an early lead and never looked back on the way to a victory. After each team exchanged a run in the first inning, Salem got its runs in third the thanks to a two-run double by Yoeilin Cespedes followed by a two-run home run off the bat of Enddy Azocar. The blast by Azocar was his fifth of the year with all five coming following his promotion from the FCL. Salem got one final run in the eighth after Natanael Nunez reached on a fielding error to score Cespedes, who doubled to lead off the inning.
After a bit of an in-between outing from Jesus Travieso in which he pitched 3 2/3 innings while allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with five strikeouts, Griffin Kilander kept Kannapolis at bay with a single run given up across 3 1/3 frames with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts scattered across his outing. P.J. Labriola earned the save with a scoreless eighth and ninth inning. Along with Cespedes, Justin Gonzales and Mason White turned in two-hit performances, with Gonzales ripping a double of his own. White, who was the Red Sox's fourth-round pick in this year's draft, is hitting .350 through his first five games of his professional career.
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A quiet afternoon for Team Red's bats, scattering four singles and a triple by Miguel Welch with no runs to show for it in the loss. On the mound, Jakson Gamboa pitched a scoreless first with a walk and strikeout before Angelo Ladera came on in bulk relief. Ladera picked up where Gamboa left off with four scoreless innings of his own. Across his outing, the right-hander allowed two hits and a walk while striking out four. Isael Fis followed and took the loss after struggling to make it out of his lone inning of work. While only recording two outs, Fis surrendered all four runs of the game on three hits and three walks along with two hit batters. Eddison Septimo and Breylin Cruz strung together the final 3 1/3 innings with three hits, a walk and a strikeout combined on their lines.
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Team Blue got four home runs as part of a 13-run offensive attack. Yoiber Ruiz connected on his first home run of the season with a grand slam in the third and Harold Rivas slugged a solo shot two batters later. The fireworks continued in the fourth as Jostin Ogando belted a two-run home run for his second big fly of the season and Josue Brito capped off the offensive explosion with a two-run home run of his own in the sixth. Ruiz led the way with four runs driven in all on his big swing, with Ogando going 3 for 3 with three runs driven in, along with Rivas and Brito recording multi-hit outings.
The day started off rocky on the mound for Team Blue pitching as Dariel Morillo allowed four runs in the bottom of the first and only lasted two innings with five hits, three walks and two strikeouts added to his line. Alexander Heredia pitched the third inning, allowing another run, and Yariel Valdez pitched the fourth and fifth allowing a pair of runs with four walks and a strikeout. Following the trio of pitchers, Brito carried his offensive success to the mound by recording two outs before Christopher Alvarado got the final four outs to earn the win.
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Player of the Day: While it was a strong night for the entire Greenville pitching staff, Shea Sprague led the charge with a dominant outing in his eighth start of the season. Boston's 13th-round pick in the 2024 draft did not allow a run over 5 2/3 innings while only allowing three baserunners. The appearance brings his season ERA to 3.03 over 81 1/3 innings across Salem and Greenville. Sprague is currently unranked in the SoxProspect's top 60 prospects.
Photo Credit: Shea Sprague by Kelly O'Connor