Red Sox minor lines: Sea Dog madness

Pawtucket W 6-2

Christian Vazquez: 2-4, 2 2B
Daniel Nava: 1-2, 2 BB, K, SB, CS
Ryan Lavarnwa: 1-3, BB, K
Bryce Brentz: 1-4, 2B, K, A
Garin Cecchini: 0-0, 3 BB, 2 E

Matt Barnes: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Drake Britton: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R< 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Pawtucket W 7-5

Brock Holt: 1-5, K
Ryan Roberts: 1-4, BB, K, CS
Daniel Nava: 0-4, 2 K
Ryan Lavarnway: 2-3, 2B, 2 BB
Bryce Brentz: 1-5
Garin Cecchini: 1-2, 2 BB
Christian Vazquez: 1-3, BB
Dan Butler: 1-4, K

Brandon Workman: 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Rich Hill: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Alex Wilson: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Matt Barnes and Daniel Nava arrive in Pawtucket at the same time, though the tenor of each arrival is, of course, dramatically different. For Nava it's a return to a world he may well have thought he escaped for good. For Matt Barnes it's the beginning of the last step before reaching the majors. Nava might not have that long to wait depending on how things work out in Boston, but for Barnes there's a whole lot of depth to work through before the show calls.

Portland L 10-14

Mookie Betts: 2-6, SB
Deven Marrero: 0-5
Travis Shaw: 3-4, BB
Sean Coyle: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
Henry Ramos: 4-5, 2B, CS

Noe Ramirez: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Portland W 9-8 (In 15)

Mookie Betts: 2-7, HR
Travis Shaw: 2-6, HR, BB
Blake Swihart: 4-7, 2 2B, HR
Sean Coyle: 2-7, 2B, K, SB
Henry Ramos: 3-7, 2B, K

A couple of insane games for Portland, to say the least. For Mookie, the hefty at bat totals are enough to drag his OBP, once floating up around .500, all the way down to .455. (Gasp!) Blake Swihart's participation was limited to just the one game, but he certainly took full advantage. It's still just 64 at bats into the season, but the catcher is off to an offensive start we might not have thought him capable of so soon after promotion. Heck, he's already matched his 2013 homer total of two.

Salem W 10-0

Brian Johnson: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

Salem L 1-7

Simon Mercedes: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

After a couple of BABIP-fueled blowups, Brian Johnson has produced 12 scoreless innings of baseball allowing four hits, one walk, and striking out 13. He's off to a deceptively strong start, and given his age, could probably use a quick bump up to Portland.

Greenville L 8-9

Tzu-Wei Lin: 0-4, BB, K

Greenville W 5-1

Tzu-Wei Lin: 0-3, BB
Manuel Margot: 3-4, 2B
Wendell Rijo: 1-3

Cody Kukuk: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

Manuel Margot finally escapes from BABIP hell. It might seem like Tzu-Wei Lin is in a similar boat, but really he's fine in that situaiton. There's just no power there at all at the moment. It's almost too easy to compare him to another Lin who came through Boston's farm system not that long ago. If Tzu-Wei is the shorstop equivalent of Che-Hsuan, he's going to need a way to punish pitchers for throwing him strike after strike. Otherwise, they'll just let him ground out.