Red Sox minor lines: Anderson Espinoza proves fallible (but not really)

Pawtucket L 0-1

Deven Marrero: 1-4, 2B, 2 K
Marco Hernandez: 1-4, K
Sam Travis: 0-3, BB, K
Sean Coyle: 0-3

Henry Owens: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
Heath Hembree: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Man, seven walks from Henry Owens in his first two starts makes it a bit hard to push for him over Joe Kelly in the rotation.

Or it would if Kelly hadn't allowed eight (and a whole bunch more other stuff) in his first two. Thanks for making it easy, Joe. Bring on the Owens era!

(Buchholz replacement also acceptable.)

Portland L 0-1

Justin Haley: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Williams Jerez: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

It's a little odd how comfortable the Red Sox are with throwing Jerez for extended innings given that he wasn't even pitching in 2013. Through three seasons, Jerez is averaging seven outs per appearance as a reliever. One wonders if this is just how Jerez works best, or if this is perhaps hampering his ability to let loose.

Salem L 3-5

Andrew Benintendi: 1-3, 3B, BB
Nick Longhi: 0-3
Rafael Devers: 0-3, BB, K

Daniel McGrath: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

That's four triples for Andrew Benintendi.

Now wait, you might be ready to just walk on by that. Stop. Pause. Consider. Four triples for Andrew Benintendi. It's April 14th. He's taken 27 at bats. There are only four teams in the majors with four triples, and as you may have guessed, they've seen a few more plate appearances than Benintendi has. There's only one other guy in the Carolina league with two!

What on Earth are you, Andrew Benintendi?

Greenville L 2-4

Michael Chavis: 0-4, 2 K
Josh Ockimey: 0-1, 3 BB
Luis Alexander Basabe: 1-4
Kyri Washington: 1-4, K, SB

Anderson Espinoza: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, E
Austin Glorius: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Hey, look, earned runs against Anderson Espinoza! Panic in the streets!

Not to keep going back to the Joe Kelly comparisons over and over again, but this is very much the inverse of Kelly from Wednesday night. Anderson Espinoza was nickled-and-dimed a bit here, giving up a few of the sort of singles that will happen to any pitcher who doesn't strike out 27 batters per nine innings. Mediocre fly balls, grounders that never leave the infield...whatever, right? At the end of the day, Espinoza pitched well and got punished for it a bit. Brush it off and move on to the next start, because if he keeps pitching like this, it's going to work more often than not.