Worcester: L, 4-10 (BOX SCORE)
Raymond Burgos struck out just one en route to five innings of not really having “it” against Rochester (Nationals AAA) but the offense didn’t really have “it” either. By “it”, I may mean “a hit with runners in scoring position” as the lineup went hitless in eight attempts and stranded ten total runners. Their high point of the night was long after , when Tyler McDonough, who’s hitting .474 with an OPS north of 1.500 in the month of July, hit his 7th home run in the 25 games since his promotion. The infielder has really taken a shine to his every day role in the Triple-A lineup since a few of his infield counterparts have spent some time either in Boston or the injured list lately. Still, the home run was a post-cursor to the WooSox having to march Nathan Hickey out to the mound for the last out of the ninth.
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Portland: W, 7-5 (BOX SCORE)
Jack Winnay has raked for the last few weeks, especially following his promotion to Portland. Last year’s 13th round draft pick out of Wake Forest went 3-for-5, and got on base to put the bottom of the lineup in prime position to capitalize and drive some runs in that’d define the game. Ronald Rosario reaped the benefit of this with 2 home runs and 4 total RBI’s, none more important than one in the 8th to put Portland ahead of New Hampshire (Blue Jays AA) for good. And, hey, Brooks Brannon got in on the action too! The home run was his 14th in Double-A as his OPS inches closer back to 1.000. This came after he already hit a two-bagger in the previous inning. This is another batter I think has seen enough at Portland. Though he has a bit more development to gain, it’s time to get him some at-bats facing some guys with MLB experience.
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Greenville: W, 9-8 (BOX SCORE)
Greensboro (Braves High-A) has been letting Greenville hit most of the week, and Friday was no exception. The team’s first five batters in the lineup all sported multiple hits and Mason White (who’s also defensively versatile) improved his stock even more by having three extra-base hits, a home run and two doubles. The Grasshoppers line-up also had a ton of offense, though, belting four of home runs themselves, so it came to a head with a ninth inning that saw the Drive narrowly holding onto the 9-3 lead they built going into the last half-inning. Luckily, in the top of the frame, Gerardo Rodriguez and Luke Heyman both left the yard, or we’d be singing a different tune.
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You’re not seeing double. The RidgeYaks also took the FireFlies for a 9-8 victory (Royals A) and their pitchers may have been getting hit to death (and the seven walks they issued came back to bite them) but they got 15 k’s on the night, including Yermain Ruiz getting eight in his twelve-out relief appearance. Even though Salem allowed five runs in the first, they answered by hitting consistently throughout the night… but a five-run fifth frame didn’t hurt matters.
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