Red Sox Minor Lines: The system gets swept

Pawtucket L 5-6

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Aneury Tavarez, RF: 2-5, 2 R, 1 K

Rusney Castillo, CF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Sam Travis, 1B: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 K

Justin Haley: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K (88 pitches)

Williams Jerez: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (36 pitches)

The PawSox did not come out on the right end of this one, but they did get Travis back into their lineup after he’s been on the shelf for a couple of weeks. The first baseman didn’t do too much in this game, but just having him in the lineup lengthens it quite a bit. Additionally, the top three of Lin, Tavarez and Castillo have been a strong trio of late.

Portland L 7-10

Chad De La Guerra, SS: 3-6, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 E

Tony Renda, DH: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K

Cole Sturgeon, CF: 3-6, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI

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

Jake Cosart: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (50 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (12 pitches)

Every time it seems like Sturgeon is ready to go on a legitimate cold streak, the outfielder has a game like this to clear things up. As I’ve said in this space before, he should be hitting well considering this is his fourth taste of this league. That being said, someone can only post an OPS over 1.000 for so long before you give him a chance on the next rung up the ladder. That time should be coming soon for Sturgeon I would think.

Salem L 1-18

Santiago Espinal, SS: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R

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

C.J. Chatham, DH: 1-4, 1 RBI

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-4, 1 K

Tyler Hill, RF: 2-4, 1 2B

Tanner Houck: 4 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (88 pitches)

Carlos Tovar: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 0 K (30 pitches)

Yikes. Salem’s pitching was supposed to be the best part of the entire farm heading into the season, but it’s been a rough season in general and the last few games in particular have been really bad for these guys. This is particularly disappointing for Houck, who is coming off his best start of the year (K/BB-wise, at least) but couldn’t build off it this time around. Patience is obviously needed for the righty after changing up his whole delivery, but it can be hard when nothing else is going right in the system either.

Greenville L 0-6

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-4, 4 K

Victor Acosta, RF: 2-4, 1 K

I....don’t have anything to add here.

Player of the Day: It was a really bad day in the Red Sox system, but there were a couple of good performers who could be worthy of a shoutout. Chad De La Guerra had the best day, though, going yard for the SeaDogs and getting on base two other times. The infielder is getting back into a groove after an awful start to the year in Pawtucket, and you have to wonder how long the team will keep the 25-year-old down in Portland before he gets another chance in Triple-A. For what it’s worth, he has a 1.268 OPS in five games with the SeaDogs.