Worcester: L, 3-12 (BOX SCORE)
This opening game against the Mets was never in doubt. The WooSox were dominated all night and had just one extra base hit, a double by Nick Sogard. Meanwhile, the pitching staff started off on a semi-wrong foot with Isaac Coffey failing to get out of the fourth inning despite striking out six. It g0t s0 much worse in what could pretty much be called a home run derby. In fact, the only Worcester pitcher that ended up unscathed was Angel Bastardo, who’s back following stints on the Blue Jays’ injured list after being picked in the Rule 5 draft and unceremoniously relegated to finishing his injury stint in the Red Sox organization.
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Portland: L, 7-9 (BOX SCORE)
Bad news and good news from the game against New England neighbor Yard Goats (Rockies AA). The good news? Gage Ziehl had another outing that was probably better than the box scare makes it look, allowing five runs in as many innings but striking out six. And, of course, Franklin Arias continues his meteoric hot streak by hitting his fourth home run of the month. This is huge for a guy who never truly flashed the power tool but has always made good contact on the ball. With these 2 RBIs, he sits at 11 on the young season, and he leads the Minor Leagues in batting average. The bad news, of course, was the result itself, as the Sea Dogs committed four errors including two fielding errors by Miguel Bleis. Allowing three late runs and going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position certainly did not help.
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Greenville: W, 8-4 (BOX SCORE)
Jojo Ingrassia is off to a good start this season, as he went 3 2/3 scoreless in Asheville (Astros High-A). Shea Sprague came in to take the lion’s share of the remainder of the outs and didn’t have a perfect game, but under his four and two thirds innings of tutelage, Yophery Rodriguez was able to hit a home run to crack the window that was Tuesday’s game, and the Drive busted it wide open in the ninth inning with four more runs. Garbage time runs made this look less stressful than it was, as they had just one run to start the eighth, but kudos to the Drive for some high-leverage spots.
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Salem had seven different hitters enjoy multi-hit nights for a total of fourteen knocks in the opener against the Nationals of Fredericksburg, half of those being extra base hits, and their pitchers mowed down a dozen total batters. Leighton Finley lasted five innings and thew 81 pitches, and even though just 45 fell in for strikes, he simply stayed ahead in counts and allowed just one walk. This game, like the Worcester game to the contrary, was never in doubt past the third inning, when the RidgeYaks pulled to a 4-0 lead, and the club never even came close to looking back following gaining two more in the fourth.
Have a fulfilling Earth Day!
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