5/22 MiLB Gameday: Barnes, Pena, Light and Smith

[Cuzittt]

Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Matt Barnes) @ Syracuse (Ryan Tatusko) [7:05pm]
EL: Portland (Miguel Pena) vs. Binghamton (Rainy Lara) [6:05pm]
CL:Salem (Pat Light) vs. Winston-Salem (Francellis Montas) [7:05pm]
SAL: Greenville (Myles Smith) vs. Augusta (Carlos Diaz) [7:05pm]
NYPL: Lowell - Opening Day - June 13th vs. Vermont
GCL: GCL Sox - Opening Day - June 20th vs GCL Twins
DSL: DSL Sox - Opening Day - May 31st

Notes:

Deven Marrero left Tuesday's game with a jammed finger. Expected to play tonight.


Scoreboard:

Boston Red Sox Minor League Scores

Media:

MiLB TV
MiLB Radio

Local Media:

Pawsox:

Providence Journal
Pawtucket Times

Seadogs: Portland Press Herald

Salem: Roanoke Times

Greenville: Greenville Online

Lowell: Lowell Sun

 

[semsox]

Travis Shaw is on some kind of tear right now...

 

[SouthernBoSox]

Mookie with 3 walks, no outs, and a stolen base (his 20th) so far.

No big deal.

 

[Tim Salmon]

Mookie with 3 walks, no outs, and a stolen base (his 20th) so far.

No big deal.

Sure, but how many hits does he have?

 

[SouthernBoSox]

4 walks for Mookie.

I'm sure he isn't getting much of a look from these AA pitchers. The word is out.... pitch around the greatness.

 

[Stan Papi Was Framed]

another HR for Travis Shaw, his 10th.  a call up would seem to be in the offing….

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

another HR for Travis Shaw, his 10th.  a call up would seem to be in the offing….

 
At least a call-up to Pawtucket...

 

[soxhop411]

Walk off 2RBI 3B for Mookie

 

[Cuzittt]

Mookie Betts with a walk off triple, Seadogs win 6-5.

Boxscore

Miguel Pena went 6 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks; striking out 3. Miguel Celestino went 1 2/3 innings, allowing a run on 4 hits and a HBP; striking out 4. Aaron Kurcz went an inning, giving up a hit and striking out 2.

Mookie Betts went 1/1 with a triple, 4 walks and a SB. Henry Ramos went 3/4. Peter Hissey, Shannon Wilkerson, and Travis Shaw each went 1/3 with a walk; Shaw with a HR, Hissey with a triple. Derrik Gibson and Stefan Welch each went 1/4. Blake Swihart and Heiker Meneses each went 0/4.

 

[SouthernBoSox]

At some point, you're pretty much forced to promote Mookie to AAA.

He isn't learning anything at the AA right now.

 

[Stan Papi Was Framed]

 
At least a call-up to Pawtucket...

yes, that's what I meant (sorry--perhaps a Freudian slip…)

 

[Cuzittt]

Salem loses 6-3.

Boxscore

Pat Light went 6 2/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks. Kyle Martin went 2 1/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits (2 HRs); striking out 5.

Jonathan Roof, Reed Gragnani and Mario Martinez each went 1/4; Roof and Gragnani with doubles. Bo Greenwell went 0/1 with 2 walks. Matty Johnson and Kevin Heller each went 0/3 with a walk. Kevin Mager and Jayson Hernandez each went 0/3. Aneury Tavarez went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

Drive win 7-2.

Boxscore

Myles Smith went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks; striking out 4. Jonathan Aro went 4 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out 5.

Forrestt Allday went 2/3 with a double and a walk before being replaced by Zach Kapstein who went 1/1 with a triple. Jimmy Rider went 2/3 with a double and a walk. Jantzen Witte went 2/4 with a double. Jake Romanski and Manuel Margot each went 1/4; Margot with a double. Carlos Asuaje went 0/2 with a walk and a HBP. Tzu-Wei Lin, Kendrick Perkins and Jordan Weems each went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

Pawsox lose 6-1.

Boxscore

Matt Barnes went 3+ innings, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits (2 HRs) and 3 walks; striking out 4. Dalier Hinojosa went 2 innings, giving up a hit, a WP and a walk; striking out 5. Chris Resop went 2 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out 2. Tommy Layne went an inning, striking out one.

Ryan Lavarnway went 3/4. Ryan Roberts, Garin Cecchini and Corey Brown each went 2/4; Brown with a double. Christian Vazquez went 1/4. Carlos Rivero went 0/3 with a HBP. Mike McCoy went 0/3 with a walk. Alex Hassan and Daniel Nava each went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Syracuse scored six runs against Pawtucket starter Matt Barnes in the first four innings and the PawSox offense was stymied by four double-play groundouts, as the Chiefs earned a 6-1 victory Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.

The PawSox (25-23) lost their fourth consecutive game as the team’s offense has been held to just one run in the last 21 innings at-bat dating back to Monday night. Pawtucket collected 10 hits on the night but stranded eight baserunners and hit into four twin-killings in the first six innings of play.

Barnes allowed a two-run home run to Brock Peterson to open the scoring in the first, then a solo shot to Steven Souza Jr. in the third that made the score 4-0. Then, after a Pawtucket run in the top of the fourth, Barnes allowed the first five hitters he faced to reach in the fourth and was pulled from the game.

Manny Burris’ bases-loaded RBI single plated the fifth Syracuse run and a fielding error on right-fielder Alex Hassan on the same play brought home the final run of the night. Barnes was charged with six earned runs in three plus innings of work on eight hits and three walks.

Chiefs starter Ryan Tatusko benefited from all four double-play groundouts in his six innings of work and allowed only one run on eight hits. Relievers Zach Jackson and Manny Delcarmen finished the victory for Syracuse without allowing a run.

Corey Brown’s RBI single in the fourth provided Pawtucket with its only run of the night. Brown, Ryan Roberts and Garin Cecchini each had two hits for the PawSox, while Ryan Lavarnway went 3-for-4 in the contest.

SEADOGS

Game Story

With runners on first and second with no outs in the ninth, and the Portland Sea Dogs down by a run, a bunt might have been called for.

But Mookie Betts was coming to bat. No bunt sign from manager Billy McMillon.

“He didn’t give me one so I swung away,” said Betts. He drilled an outside fastball to the right field corner for a two-run walk-off triple, in a 6-5 Sea Dogs win over the Binghamton Mets on Thursday night at Hadlock Field.

Betts had already walked four times in the game, and his triple gives him a .371 batting average. His on-base percentage is .454.

“Figured he would get a good at-bat,” McMillon said.

With Portland down 5-4, Peter Hissey led off the ninth with a walk. Shannon Wilkerson bunted past pitcher Cody Satterwhite (2-1) for a single. Then Betts finished it.

Earlier Travis Shaw hit a three-run homer, his team-leading 10th. Henry Ramos went 3-for-4.

Reliever Aaron Kurcz (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Starter Mickey Pena began with five scoreless innings, before giving up two apiece in the sixth and seventh.

Robby Scott

Robby Scott wondered what the heck Jose Canseco was doing, walking out to the mound during Scott’s warm-up pitches before the second inning.

Canseco, manager of the independent-league Yuma Scorpions, told Scott to come out of the game, even though Scott struck out the side in the first inning.

“You’re not taking him out,” the Scorpions catcher protested.

Canseco smiled at Scott.

“I have to take you out because the Boston Red Sox just bought your contract,” Canseco told him.

Scott could not give the ball to Canseco fast enough. Never had a pitcher been so happy to be sent to the showers.

That happened in August, 2011, the first step in a journey that has brought Scott to Portland, where he is putting up some of the best numbers in the Red Sox organization.

Scott, a left-hander, features the best ERA (0.70), the second-best walks/hits per inning ratio (0.86) and is tied with teammate Keith Couch for the most wins among all Red Sox pitchers, majors or minors.

Pretty good for a pitcher no one wanted.

Scott, 24, a Miami native, hails from Florida State University, a big-college program where stars are made – and other players forgotten. Scott fit into the latter category.

“I definitely learned a lot about baseball because I watched a lot of baseball,” Scott said.

An all-state starter at St. Thomas Aquinas High in Fort Lauderdale, and all-conference with Broward Community College, Scott was banished to the FSU bullpen and rarely called upon – eight innings his junior year, 9 1/3 innings as a senior.

Not surprisingly, Scott went undrafted in 2011. He graduated with a double degree in sociology and communications. He turned down a job in sales. Baseball was not out of his system.

“I thought I had what it took to play at the next level,” he said.

SALEM

Game Story

ANOTHER QUIET NIGHT: You know that whole thing about hitting being contagious?

Salem’s bats appear to be a bit under the weather these days.

For the fourth time in their past five games, the Red Sox failed to manage at least six hits. They scratched out just three on Thursday, falling to Winston-Salem 6-3 in front of 2,866 at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The Sox (24-22) dropped three out of four to the Dash (18-27), scoring just eight runs in the series.

THE FULL MONTAS: One of the last things a struggling offensive team wants to see is a pitcher like the Dash sent to the mound on Thursday. Francellis Montas wields a mid-90s fastball, sharp slider and effective change — and all three were working on this night.

Montas carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Reed Gragnani ripped a clean double down the left field line with one out. Montas lasted eight innings, striking out 11 and allowing just one run on two hits.

TRADE THAT PAID: Nobody will argue that Boston failed to benefit from last year’s Jake Peavy trade — the Red Sox did win the 2013 World Series, after all — but Salem has absorbed some collateral damage in 2014.

Montas was the second pitcher in this series who was acquired from Boston by the White Sox in that three-team deal. The other was J.B. Wendelken, who shut out the Sox for seven innings on Tuesday night to improve to 4-0 against Salem.

BOTTOM’S UP: Salem starter Pat Light matched Montas nearly pitch for pitch in the first four innings, but the Dash struck for two runs in the top of the fifth. Keon Barnum and Nick Basto delivered RBIs in the frame.

DRIVE

Game Story

Following a big win in Tuesday's series finale in Asheville, the Greenville Drive (23-21) kept the momentum going, receiving key contributions across the entire team to grab a 7-2 victory over the Augusta GreenJackets (22-24) on Thursday night.

The pitching efforts of Myles Smith (1-2) and Jonathan Aro were instrumental in the win. Smith spun a terrific outing in his second start of the season, allowing just one earned run in five innings and striking out four. Aro followed with four scoreless innings and five strikeouts to pick up his fourth save of the year.

The Drive took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth after entering the frame down 2-1. Jake Romanski began the frame with a single and moved to third on Manuel Margot's double to right. Kendrick Perkins followed with an RBI groundout to tie the game, and Jimmy Rider singled back through the box to make the score 3-2.

Two more runs in the fifth pushed the score to 5-2, as Jantzen Witte laced an RBI double to right and Margot reached on an error to score another run.

Forrestt Allday added an RBI single in the sixth, and Zach Kapstein's RBI triple in the eighth brought home the final run of the evening.

The GreenJackets scored both of their runs against Smith in the second, with back-to-back doubles by Ryan Tuntland and Eric Sim scoring the first run and a throwing error bringing home the second.

Witte also had an RBI single in the third inning and collected two hits and two RBIs for the Drive on Thursday. Allday and Rider joined him with two hits apiece. Rafael Rodriguez had a pair of hits to lead Augusta.