Red Sox Minor Lines: Chandler Shepherd and Kutter Crawford shine on the mound

Pawtucket W 2-0

Aneury Tavarez, CF: 0-4, 1 K

Mike Olt, DH: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jeremy Barfield, RF: 0-4, 3 K

Chad De La Guerra, 2B: 1-4, 1 K

Chandler Shepherd: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (87 pitches)

Tyler Thornburg: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (13 pitches)

Robby Scott: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (12 pitches)

There is still, of course, plenty of work to be done for Thornburg as he makes his way back to the mound after under going TOS surgery. He also is waiting to make his first back-to-back appearance in what will likely be the most important test. That being said, he can only take things one game at a time, and that’s what he’s going to do now with that 3-0 lead. Sticking with the pitching staff, Tampa Bay has taken over and was phenomenal in the U.S.

Portland L 6-9

Cole Sturgeon, CF: 0-5, 1 RBI, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R

Tate Matheny, RF: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R

Nick Lovullo, 2B: 1-1, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Austin Rei, C: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI

Danny Mars, LF: 1-4, 1 K

Dedgar Jimenez: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K (79 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K (24 pitches)

There’s not a ton going on for the SeaDogs these days so it seemed like a good chance to get caught up on what’s going on with Josh Ockimey. There’s not much happening, as Ockimey has struggled since being called up last year and Double-A has been a challenge too. Power is still the biggest issue for the first baseman, as he needs to be able to consistently tap jnto that. On the mound, Jimenez was a little better than that line would indicate.

Salem W 5-4

Santiago Espinal, SS: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 E

Roldani Baldwin, DH: 0-4, 2 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K

Tyler Hill, CF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Bryan Mata: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K (56 pitches)

Daniel Gonzalez: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K (78 pitches)

The good news is that my search for information on Mata has not led me to believe he left this game due to injuery. That’s the good news. The bad news is that even though he seems healthy he couldn’t make it through the second inning and despite not allowing a hit the walks added too much too soon to his pitch count. It’s been a mildly disappointing year for Mata, and this doesn’t help matters.

Greenville W 2-1

Lorenzo Cedrola, LF: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-4, 1 K

C.J. Chatham, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Marino Campana, RF: 2-4

Isaias Lucena, C 2-3

Kutter Crawford: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K

It’s Kutter Crawford’s world, we’re just living in it. The peripherals don’t look quite as dominant for Crawford in this outing as they have for most of the year but the run prevention was there in a big way. Crawford continues to look like one of the most dominant pitchers in his league despite a notable lack of dominant stuff, but as long as he’s pitching like this his stuff doesn’t matter.

Player of the Day: I was trying to see if Crawford could get another one, but there’s not way of working around the very deserving Chandler Shepherd. I came into the year doubting his ability to convert to the rotation and help the organization in that role, and while it hasn’t been great he hasn’t converted back yet. Shepherd will be up at some point even if it’s just September, but with a few more of those kinds of appearances he’ll be up even sooner.