Red Sox Minor Lines: Tanner Houck’s best career start (so far)

Pawtucket L 1-3

Aneury Tavarez: 1-5

Rusney Castillo: 2-5, 1 R, 2 K

Sam Travis: 2-3, 1 BB

Bryce Brentz: 0-3, 1 BB, 3 K

Roenis Elias: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Kyle Martin: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Noe Ramirez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Elias makes his way back to Pawtucket for the first time this year and things did not go so well. For his first year in Boston the southpaw served as rotation depth, and he’s been starting since returning from injury this year as well. With Brian Johnson, Hector Velazquez, Jalen Beeks and Doug Fister (for now) representing solid rotation depth, though, it’d be wise to consider Elias for a bullpen role. Based on his performance on his rehab assignments he probably won’t help anywhere, but we know by now not to judge a player by how well they pitch immediately upon returning from injury.

Portland L 3-4

Michael Chavis: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Danny Mars: 1-4, 1 K

Josh Tobias: 1-4, 1 K

Teddy Stankiewicz: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K

Trevor Kelley: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Kelley had been outstanding for the first half of this season in Salem’s bullpen, earning him a spot in the High-A All-Star Game. More importantly, he caught the attention of scouts with his performance in Salem and in the All-Star Game as well. Things have not gone so well in Portland, unfortunately. He’s now allowed runs in four of his seven appearances at Double-A including each of his last three. The jump to this level is always difficult, but he’ll be one to watch for improvement down the stretch.

Salem W 6-5

Josh Ockimey: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Austin Rei: 0-4, 1 K

Tate Matheny: 1-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 K

Stephen Nogosek: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Mostly a boring day for Salem despite getting the win. Ockimey drew yet another walk, which moves his walk rate up to 16 percent. Rei had another bad game which has become the norm this year. Matheny had one big hit to continue his roller coaster season. Nogosek did his job to finish up this game and still looks like the most intriguing relief prospect in the system that’s yet to reach Triple-A. Hooray!

Greenville L 2-5

Lorenzo Cedrola: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Tyler Hill: 0-3, 1 BB

Roldani Baldwin: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB

Bobby Dalbec: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Darwinzon Hernandez: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 3 K

Not the most impressive outing we’ve ever seen from Hernandez, although inconsistency is the expectation for a 20-year-old pitcher in his first full season. Still, this is arguably the worst we’ve seen of the young lefty this year, at least if you want to judge that by control. Thursday night marked the first game of 2017 in which Hernandez walked at least five batters and only the second time he walked at least four. There’s been some speculation around him leading up to the trade deadline, but one bad start won’t affect the way the Red Sox or other teams judge him.

Lowell W 6-0

Michael Osinski: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 K

Brett Netzer: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Yoan Aybar: 1-4, 1 R, 3 K

Tanner Houck: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Jared Oliver: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

His third professional start turned out to be Houck’s best so far, although he’s still obviously being limited in the innings department. Still, it’s encouraging to see him put up good results even if this is simply about getting his work in with the organization. Also, shoutout to Oliver, a 26th round pick last year who faced seven batters on Thursday and struck out six of them.

GCL Red Sox PPD

DSL Red Sox G1 W 7-0

Willis Figueroa: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R

Rayniel Moreno: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

DSL Red Sox G2 L 3-7

Rafael Rincones: 2-4, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 SB

Ivan Jimenez: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Rafael Gomez: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K