Red Sox Minor Lines: A good day for pitching

Pawtucket L 0-3

Tony Renda, 2B: 2-4, 1 K

Brandon Phillips, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Adam Lind, 1B: 0-3, 1 BB

Sam Travis, 1-4

Ivan De Jesus, 3B: 3-4

Drew Pomeranz: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K (69 pitches)

Well, Pomeranz ended up taking the loss in this game but that wasn’t really his fault. This was easily his best rehab performance and perhaps his best overall performance this season, and exactly what the Red Sox needed to see after Eduardo Rodriguez went down with his injury. It’s hard to overstate how important it would be for this team if they could get the 2017 version of Pomeranz back for the second half. That being said, after how consistently bad he was when healthy in the first half I’m not going to let one strong rehab appearance sway me on this one. I’d still like to see another rehab outing before he takes the mound for a major-league game again.

Portland W 2-1

Danny Mars, CF/RF: 0-4, 2 K

Jantzen Witte, 3B: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 K

Mike Shawaryn: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K (97 pitches)

Travis Lakins: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (16 pitches)

Shawaryn was scratched from his last start, but it doesn’t appear that the issue was all that serious because he’s back on the mound a few days later and he had his best performance in over a month. Granted, that doesn’t mean he’s been bad over the last month as it’s been a strong season overall for the righty. Shawaryn now has a 3.2 ERA on the year with 91 strikeouts and 24 walks in 99 ²⁄₃ innings. It was also a dominant day for Lakins, who picked up his first save since shifting to the bullpen and has to be under consideration for a promotion at some point soon.

Salem L 0-1 (F/10)

Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-4, 1 K

C.J. Chatham, SS: 0-4, 2 K

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

Roldani Baldwin, C: 0-4, 2 K

Tanner Houck: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K (83 pitches)

Jake Cosart: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (23 pitches)

Salem was close to being no-hit in this game, with Chris Madera getting the team’s only hit, and waiting until the ninth to do so. It was still a close contest thanks to a strong outing for Houck, who has been much better after the Red Sox have allowed him to go back to his old style of pitching. It’s unclear what this means for his future as a starter, but the results are getting better.

Lowell W 3-2

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-4, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, DH: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Trey Ganns, 1B: 0-1, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS

Tyler Esplin, LF: 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 K

Alberto Schmidt, C: 1-1, 1 BB, 1 R

Marcus Walden: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (20 pitches)

There really weren’t any standout performances in Lowell on Wednesday, though we did see a familiar face that hasn’t shown up in a while. Walden is back in action for the first time since May 30. He didn’t have an overly dominant outing or anything like that, but the righty is hopefully not going to need to be in Lowell for too long and can add another depth option in Pawtucket.

GCL W 3-2

Juan Carlos Abreu, LF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Carlos Puildo, C: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K

Logan Browning: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Browning was just selected as a 24th round pick out of Florida Southern University and appears to be overly advanced for the level. The son of former major leaguer Tom Browning, Boston’s 22-year-old southpaw now has a 2.31 ERA over 11 ²⁄₃ innings with 13 strikeouts and just one walk.

DSL 1 W 10-6

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 2 E

Fabian Andrade, RF: 1-2, 1 BB, 2 R

Carlos Sanchez, 1B: 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Breiner Licona, C: 1-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Denny Daza: 2B: 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 K

DSL 2 L 3-7

Nelfy Abreu, CF: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB

Kleiber Rodriguez, 1B: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Ronaldo Pulgar, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Carlos Velez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Abreu is the last man standing of the Big Three that began the year on the DSL 2 roster, and he’s having a solid enough year. There’s not a ton to be excited about with the bat, but he gets on base a ton with an OBP just about 100 points higher than his batting average. Between that and his up-the-middle defense (he also plays second base), there’s something here.

Player of the Day: There were a few pitchers to choose from here, but I think it has to go to Tanner Houck. Last year’s first-round pick has not had the year we were hoping for, and in hindsight it may have been overly aggressive to start him in High-A this season. That being said, the righty has turned it around since the aforementioned change in mechanics, and if he can keep that going through the rest of the year he’ll be an exciting piece as he starts 2019 in Double-A. Presumably.