Red Sox minor lines: When good pitchers go bad (and Greenville scores 21)

Pawtucket L 7-9

Brock Holt: 1-4, K, E
Ryan Roberts: 1-5, K
Daniel Nava: 2-5, HR, K
Ryan Lavarnway: 2-4, 2B
Bryce Brentz: 2-3, 2B, 3B, K
Garin Cecchini: 1-5, 3 K
Alex Hassan: 0-4, BB, K
Dan Butler: 1-2, 2 BB

Rubby De La Rosa: 5 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Rubby was going to have a sub-par start sooner or later. The good news is that, as bad as the five-run third may have been, this was more an instance of everything bad happening all at once than a pitcher struggling throughout, leaving the results worse than the actual average level of pitching on the day. As such, a bounce-back performance seems more likely than any further difficulties.

Portland L 5-6

Mookie Betts: 1-5, 2B, K
Deven Marrero: 0-3, BB, K
Travis Shaw: 1-4, 2B, K
Blake Swihart: 1-4, K
Henry Ramos: 1-3, BB, K

Henry Owens: 5 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

Henry Owens, on the other hand, is clearly dealing with a rough patch. Over his last three starts (16 innings), Owens has surrendered 13 runs (12 earned) on 19 hits and 10 walks, striking out just 11. These struggles have come out of nowhere, to boot, as Owens already had 42 very successful innings under his belt in Double-A, 12 of those coming in his first two starts of 2014.  One has to wonder if he hasn't lost something mechanically. Something for the coaching staff to work on, to be sure.

Salem L 9-15

Austin Maddox: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Madison Younginer: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB

Alright, I give, Younginer. You're not a thing.

Greenville W 21-6

Tzu-Wei Lin: 2-7, 2B
Manuel Margot: 2-6, BB, K, SB
Wendell Rijo: 1-4, 2 BB

Trey Ball: 5 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

This is the extreme version of one of those games where a team scores 10 but the one really good prospect on said team went 0-for-5 or just didn't play. Of course, with 21 runs on the board it was impossible for our various prospects of note to go 0-for. In fact, they put up a .363 OBP on the day which is just fine. But given the sheer volume of offense in this game,  it's hard not to feel a little disappointed that none of these three had a truly ridiculous night.

Trey Ball, on the other hand, would probably have been happy with the pitching equivalent of their solid performances. He wasn't bad in his debut, but if this is the starting point, then there's work to be done. That's not unexpected, though, as he was drafted as anything but a finished product.