Red Sox minor lines: Portland finally plays again

Pawtucket W 2-1

Henry Owens: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Anthony Varvaro: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Pat Light: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Well, that's a much more old-school Honk sort of game. Not great, but something that can be built on more than 8 walks allowed in 9 batters faced, or something in that vein.

Portland Game 1 W 6-0 (In 7)

Andrew Benintendi: 1-4, 2B

Justin Haley: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Portland Game 2 L 0-1 (In 7)

Andrew Benintendi: 0-3

Williams Jerez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

It's been so long since Portland actually managed to play any games that I forget if Andrew Benintendi was trending positively or not. Give me a minute here...

Ah, he was! 3-for-8 with a walk was certainly better than he'd produced of late. 4-for-12 with a walk and a double if you add in the first game. But the second kind of pushes it in the wrong direction. If you're looking for a thoroughly positive sign, though, Benintendi was averaging a strikeout per game through his first nine with the Sea Dogs. Since then, he's produced just two in eight. That's much more in line with the player who saw strike three nine times in 34 games with Salem.

Salem L 5-13

Yoan Moncada: 1-4, BB, K
Nick Longhi: 1-3, BB, K
Rafael Devers: 0-2, 3 BB, K

Trey Ball: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Ah, yes, the moment where Trey Ball acknowledges that, no, an ERA under 3.00 doesn't actually look all that pretty when it comes with walk and strikeout totals that look awfully similar.