April 26, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Arias a walk-off hero in Portland, Eyanson holds Asheville hitless in start
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The WooSox offense used 12 hits and 13 walks to power them to victory on Saturday with eight of the nine hitters in the lineup reaching base in the contest. Nick Sogard reached base five times with two hits and three walks along with a pair of RBIs. Tsung-Che Chang walked three times, scored twice and swiped two bases as well. Mickey Gasper, Nate Eaton, and Kristian Campbell joined Sogard as players with multi-hit performances in the win.
The Worcester pitching staff comprised of five pitchers allowed just a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning while striking out 10. Isaac Coffey earned the start and held Syracuse scoreless through the first three frames with five strikeouts on his line. Angel Bastardo took home his first win of the year after pitching the fourth and fifth with a pair of strikeouts. Devin Sweet and Kyle Keller earned holds with their respective outings, with Keller allowing the two runs to score on two hits. Tommy Kahnle came on in the ninth to close out the win with a strikeout and hit on his ledger.
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Franklin Arias was the hero yet again for Portland, belting a two-out, two-run walk-off home run. With the Sea Dogs trailing 3-2 entering the final frame, Brooks Brannon struck out and Nelly Taylor grounded out to put Portland down to its final out. After Will Turner was hit by a pitch, Arias took an at bat in place of Ahbram Liendo and crushed a home run to right-center field. The homer was Arias' seventh of the season and gives him 17 RBIs through his first 15 games. Brannon also hit a home run in the contest, his first of the season.
Jedixson Paez pitched a scoreless first in his second appearance, followed by three scoreless innings by Joe Vogatsky, who struck out four and allowed just a pair of baserunners. Erik Rivera was charged with a blown save after surrendering the lead with three runs (two earned runs) in 3 2/3 innings before P.J. Labriola took home the win in his first outing with the Sea Dogs since earning a promotion from Greenville.
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A back-and-forth game started with another strong outing on the mound from Anthony Eyanson. The 2026 third-round pick allowed a single hit, struck out nine hitters and generated 16 whiffs over 4 1/3 innings, bringing his ERA to 0.54. While Eyanson was dealing, Greenville jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings. Henry Godbout followed his 3-for-3 outing Friday night with a home run in the first and Isaiah Jackson slugged his third home run of the season with a two-run shot in the fourth. Danny Kirwin followed Eyanson and allowed a pair of runs on a hit with three walks, and Brandon Neely struggled in his Greenville debut. The right-hander walked four and gave up three runs of his own in 1 2/3 innings.
Trailing 5-4 in the eighth, the Drive plated six runs as Jackson drew an RBI walk, Yophery Rodriguez continued his torrid start with a run-scoring single, Antonio Anderson plated a run on a single, a wild pitch that saw Rodriguez cross home and Justin Gonzales capping the rally with a two-run single. Greenville added one more run in the ninth on Yoeilin Cespedes' third home run of the season. Steven Brooks earned the win, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings while not allowing a run on two hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
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It was a tough day for the Salem staff with eight hits and eight walks allowed. Jose Bello looked solid in his third start of the season. The right-hander went three innings, allowed a home run but struck out four while throwing 29 of his 43 pitches for strikes. Christian Foutch and Adam Bates struggled following Bello, allowing 10 runs over the next four innings with seven hits, seven walks and just three strikeouts. Foutch ended up being tagged with the loss. Jason Gilman pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth.
It was a relatively quiet night for the RidgeYaks offense, who didn't score half of its runs until the bottom of the ninth inning. Enddy Azocar, Arvinson Pinto and D'Angelo Ortiz were responsible for the team's RBIs, with Azocar and Ortiz singling in their runs and Pinto plating the other on a sacrifice fly. Andrews Opata continued his hot start to his professional career with a pair of walks and a run scored to push his OPS on the season to 1.002 over 60 plate appearances.
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Player of the Day: It is becoming repetitive at this point, but no one has been able to hit Anthony Eyanson the entire month of April. The right-hander's recent dominant outing puts his ERA on the season at 0.54 with a staggering 0.36 WHIP through 16 2/3 innings. Eyanson is currently the sixth-ranked prospect at SoxProspects, but has all the makings to climb up the list with his start to 2026.
Photo Credit: Anthony Eyanson by Kelly O'Connor