Red Sox Minor Lines: Tyler Thornburg is getting closer

Pawtucket W 11-1

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 0-5, 1 K

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Adam Lind, DH: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI

Ivan De Jesus Jr., 2B: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Mike Miller, SS: 2-3, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 K

Tyler Thornburg: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (17 pitches)

Thornburg appears to be closer to return and took a big step to coming back to the majors on Monday. For the second time in this long rehab assignment, the righty pitched on back-to-back days. The first time did not go as well as he walked two batters while getting just one out. This was a much cleaner outing, and while he did walk a batter he threw 12 strikes in his 17 pitches. There’s still no word on Thornburg’s exact timeline, but he’s presumably getting closer.

Portland L 2-7

Danny Mars, CF: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 K, 1 SB

Tanner Nishioka, 2B: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 K, 2 E

Dedgar Jimenez: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 7 K (101 pitches)

Trey Ball: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K (36 pitches)

Travis Lakins: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (21 pitches)

It’s not clear the reasoning, but Josh Ockimey hasn’t played in the last three games. As far as I can tell he’s still on the active roster, but one would assume there is at least a minor injury here. For those who did play in this game, it was not an impressive day for the pitchers. Ball is essentially a lost cause at this point, and Jimenez actually wasn’t too bad, though four of the seven hits were for extra bases. Lakins was probably the best as he just hit one batter then was hurt by his defense.

Salem L 3-4

Santiago Espinal, SS: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI

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

Roldani Baldwin: 1-4, 1 K

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

Tyler Hill, LF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 E

Chris Madera, CF: 3-4, 1 R

Darwinzon Hernandez: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 1 K (45 pitches)

Jake Cosart: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (14 pitches)

There are a couple of big negatives to talk about here. Hernandez only made it through one inning, though it’s not clear if it was because he was injured or simply because he was bad. It’s clear that he couldn’t find the strike zone in this short outing, and throwing 45 pitches in just one inning is never really going to cut it. On the offensive side, Dalbec had an awful day. After a nice two-week stretch of making contact, he now has eight strikeouts in his last three games.

Greenville L 4-7

Lorenzo Cedrola, CF: 1-5, 1 R, 2 K

Frankie Rios, 3B: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Michael Osinski, 1B: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Pedro Castellanos, DH: 2-4, 1 RBI

Kutter Crawford: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 4 K (84 pitches)

We’re not going to jump off the Kutter Crawford train after one bad game, but it’s worth noting that he hasn’t been quite as effective in his recent outings. Granted, the one before this included six shutout innings, so it hasn’t really been bad. Meanwhile, Castellanos made his return from the DL for his first full game since May 1.

Player of the Day: There aren’t a lot of big games to pick from today, but we’ll go to Triple-A for the winner. Ivan De Jesus gets this one, though he’ll need more games like this if he wants to get back into the conversation as a major-league depth piece.