July 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Cespedes slugs two homers in Greenville, Delzine looks stellar in the FCL
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Worcester aimed to mount a massive late-inning comeback after falling behind 6-0, but stranded the tying run on third base in the ninth inning to drop its second in a row. After Seth Martinez pitched a scoreless first and second, Noah Song got roughed up as he ended up taking the loss. While recording just four outs, Song was tagged for five runs on five hits with a pair of walks and a single strikeout on his line. Tyler Samaniego, Angel Bastardo and Osvaldo Berrios combined the pitch the final 4 2/3, allowing one run with five strikeouts combined.
Worcester attempted its comeback with four runs in the eighth as Mikey Romero singled home two runs and newly-acquired Brett Harris singled home another run, with the final score of the inning coming off of a throwing error. In the ninth, Max Ferguson walked, Braiden Ward singled, Mickey Gasper singled to drive in Ferguson to make it 6-5 before Romero grounded out to end the ballgame. Ward and Gasper led the WooSox with two hits apiece.
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It was a successful final rehab start for Patrick Sandoval, who dazzled with five shutout innings. He allowed just two baserunners on a hit and a walk and struck out seven. With Sandoval dealing, Portland took a 1-0 lead as Franklin Arias hit a sacrifice fly in the third to score Raudelis Martinez. While he was originally scheduled to start on Saturday, Anthony Eyanson followed Sandoval and ended up pitching the final five innings. Despite picking up a blown save, the right hander finished his outing with two runs allowed, three hits, a walk and seven strikeouts to put his ERA with the Sea Dogs to 1.78.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Ahbram Liendo reached base on a force out that plated Nelly Taylor to knot the score and send it to extra innings. In the extra frame, Liendo turned out to be the hero with a game-winning single with runners at second and third. Outside of Liendo's heroics, Jack Winnay continued to stay hot since his promotion with a 2-for-4 outing.
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It was an offensive barrage for the Drive, picking up 12 hits and belting five home runs on its way to the blowout victory. Enddy Azocar, Luke Heyman, Mason White each had big flies and Yoeilin Cespedes took two out of the ballpark himself as eight members of the starting lineup recorded at least one hit and all nine reached base. Azocar and Cespedes led the way with three RBIs each, White drove in two runs off his home run, and Isaiah Jackson went 3 for 5 with a triple and an RBI.
Marcus Phillips earned the start for Greenville and had one of his best outings of his pro career. The right-hander allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings, but most notably did not walk a hitter, although he did hit a batter. Shea Sprague followed Phillips and earned the win despite allowing two runs while recording four outs. Joe Vogatsky closed out the win with 3 1/3 shutout frames, which earned him his first save of the year.
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An RBI double in the third inning by Ilan Fernandez was all the scoring the RidgeYaks would need as the Salem pitching staff was magnificent in the shutout victory. Jason Gilman tied his longest outing of the season with six shutout frames, earning him his first win of the season. The left-hander scattered two hits and two walks over his appearance while adding nine strikeouts, one off of his career-high. Jay Almer escaped with a scoreless seventh despite walking the bases loaded, and Harry Blum earned a six-out save to give Salem its third straight win.
While Fernandez's double was the difference maker, Andrews Opata went 2 for 4 with his 37th stolen base of the season.
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Team Red held leads of 5-0 and 9-8 at various points in the game but could not hold on to grab the win. Jeison Payano took the loss after allowing two runs in the top of the seventh as part of his 1 1/3 innings of work. The offensive fireworks overshadowed what was a strong outing by Sadbiel Delzine. The SoxProspects' 11th-ranked prospect in the system held the Twins scoreless across 2 1/3 frames. The right-hander struck out three, allowed three hits and walked a batter. His ERA sits at 2.45 over 33 innings at the complex. Maximus Martin continued his rehab assignment in a big way with a grand slam in the bottom of the second for his second homer of the year. Tavano Baker had a pair of singles and an RBI, and Jorge Rodriguez reached base four times with a single, three walks and two runs driven in.
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The Red Sox took a brief 1-0 lead thanks to a Liosward Marin solo home run in the top of the second but Williams Montero allowed three runs in the bottom half of the frame to put the team behind for good. Montero took the loss with four earned runs charged to his line over four innings of work. Although he took the loss, Montero registered a season-high eight strikeouts. Jakson Gamboa allowed an unearned run in the fifth and Carter Rasmussen pitched a scoreless sixth despite walking a pair of hitters. Outside of Marin's fifth home run of the season, it was a quiet showing offensively as the Red Sox had just two other hits. Dorian Soto and Alexander Mambel each had singles and the team left just two baserunners stranded.
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A game that was originally suspended due to lightning was instead called after five full innings. Team Red scored a single run in each of the first four innings and eventually came from behind to secure the weather-shortened win. Joskairo Ramirez got Team Red on the board with a sacrifice fly in the first and Andruw Zambrano added to the lead with a run-scoring error in the second. After Yeider Pineda and Angel Roa pitched scoreless innings, Anthony Herrera was charged with a blown save after allowing a three-run home run to make it 3-2. The Red Sox rallied with a run in the third thanks to a Dawvris Brito solo home run and another fielding error off the bat of Anderber Urbina in the fourth to make it 4-3 Team Red. Alexander Herrera earned the win and closed out the game with four outs.
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Player of the Day: Amid a fireworks show on the field for Greenville, Yoeilin Cespedes was the star in the batter's box. The infielder slugged two home runs and drove in three to push his career-high home run total to 14 on the season while getting close to setting a new career-high for RBIs in a season. Cespedes' statline now reads at .275/.329/.505 in what has been a resurgence season for the 20-year-old.
Photo Credit: Yoeilin Cespedes by Kelly O'Connor