Red Sox Minor Lines: A good day for the pitching

Pawtucket PPD

Portland L 0-3 (F/6)

Cole Sturgeon, CF: 1-2

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-2, 1 K

Austin Rei, C: 1-2, 1 2B

Danny Mars, RF: 0-2, 1 K

Mike Shawaryn: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (77 pitches)

The weather didn’t quite cooperate with this game and they couldn’t get a full one in, but Shawaryn was outstanding while they were able to pitch. The runs came in his final inning of work, and I have to imagine the rain had something to do with it as the 2016 draftee was lights out before that. We’ve known that he has the ability to get strikeouts in bunches, but seeing that while also not walking any batters through five innings of work is a huge sign. It’s been a great showing for Shawaryn in Double-A so far as he now has a 2.91 ERA with 18 strikeouts and just three walks.

Salem G1 W 6-0

Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-3, 1 R

Tyler Hill, LF 1-2, 1 BB, 2 R

Jhon Nunez, C: 2-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI

Trenton Kemp, RF: 2-2, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI

Darwinzon Hernandez: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K (76 pitches)

Salem G2 W 7-2

Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R

Bobby Dalbec, DH: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Tyler Hill, RF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 E

Tanner Houck: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (62 pitches)

It was a really fun day for Salem on Wednesday with the offense and the pitching standing out in both halves of this double-header. The pitching in particular stands out just because of the names involved. Hernandez continues to have some relative troubles with control, but the strikeouts are still there and he’s just not allowing hits at all this year. Houck is the real encouraging portion of this, however. Last year’s first round pick had been off to a brutal start this season but he took a big step in the right direction with this outing. Hopefully it’s something he can build off and get some momentum after getting his footing in full-season ball.

Greenville G1 L 2-9

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-2, 1 BB

C.J. Chatham, DH: 0-3, 3 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K

Marino Campana, LF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Greenville G2 L 0-3

Victor Acosta, CF: 2-3

Cole Brannen, DH: 0-1, 2 BB, 1 PO

Everlouis Lozada, SS: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-3

Denyi Reyes: 4 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 K (81 pitches)

Lukas Young: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K (33 pitches)

The good news is that Chatham is back in action. We still aren’t entirely sure why he missed the better part of a week, though injury is the presumed reason. The bad news is that he only played in one half of the double-header. The super bad news is that he went 0-3 with three strikeouts in that game. So, yeah.

Player of the Day: There were a few different performances to pick from today, but I’m giving the nod to Mike Shawaryn. The righty is a really intriguing arm if he can figure out the command and it seems like he’s kind of fallen under the radar with all of the other starting pitchers near the top of the organizational rankings. Still, the stuff is there and as we saw on Wednesday he can be utterly dominant if he’s controlling the zone.