Pawtucket L 3-9
Mike Miller, SS: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K
Tony Renda, LF: 0-3, 1 BB
Christian Vazquez, C: 0-3
Michael Chavis, 3B: 0-4, 1 K, 2 E
Sam Travis, DH: 0-4, 1 K
Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-3, 2 K, 1 E
Ivan De Jesus: 2-4, 1 R
Steven Wright: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (31 pitches)
Marcus Walden: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (32 pitches)
Bobby Poyner: 0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K (23 pitches)
We had a couple of rehabbing players on Tuesday with Wright taking the mound and Vazquez catching him behind the plate. The knuckleballer had a solid game as he gets ready for a bullpen role in September, and will probably get one more rehab outing before returning. As for Vazquez, he didn’t play so great. He’s set to return on September 1. The rest of the roster...wasn’t great. Chavis and Poyner were particularly disappointing here.
Portland L 4-8
Chad De La Guerra, 2B: 3-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI
Esteban Quiroz, DH: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K
Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-4, 2 K
Tate Matheny, CF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Darwinzon Hernandez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (16 pitches)
It was a rough day for Dalbec who has been showing the great and the awful of late. The excitement is still justified, of course, but some should probably pump the brakes just a bit on the hype. Quiroz, meanwhile, has been back in Portland for four games and he is 5-16 with two homers, a double and two walks. He’s a name to remember for next year. Also, just a note on Hernandez, as expected he is going to be back in the rotation next year. This is a way to just get him a taste of Double-A while exposing him to a new role, but the plan is absolutely to continue his development as a starting pitcher.
Salem L 8-9 (F/10)
Tyler Hill, CF: 3-6, 1 R, 1 RBI
Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-5, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K, 2 SB, 1 E
Josh Tobias, 3B: 2-6, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS, 1 E
Michael Osinski, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Denyi Reyes: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (90 pitches)
Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (16 pitches)
Reyes did not have a great game despite all but one of his runs being unearned. I’m not here to talk about his performance on Tuesday, though. The righty has had a fantastic season overall, and he was rewarded for those efforts with some hardware in the afternoon. Prior to the game, it was announced they he’d been named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year, the first time in franchise history a Drive pitcher has won that award. It’s well-deserved, and I’m more excited about his 2019 than the scouting reports would let on.
Greenville L 1-2
Jarren Duran, RF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB
Garrett Benge, 3B: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 CS
Pedro Castellanos, LF: 1-3, 1 CS
Jhonathan Diaz: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K (94 pitches)
Diaz hasn’t had a Reyes-type season, but he spent most of the year as a big part of Greenville’s underrated rotation. He’s the last man standing after Reyes and Kutter Crawford were promoted to Salem, but Diaz is still performing. After another strong start, his ERA on the season is down to 3.14 with 141 strikeouts and 38 walks.
Lowell W 7-0
Cole Brannen, CF: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 K, 1 SB
Brandon Howlett, DH: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Devlin Granberg, 1B: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Nicholas Northcut, 3B: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K
Juan Carlos Abreu, LF: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI
Chris Machamer: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K (77 pitches)
With the GCL season in the books, a whole lot of guys on that roster were promoted to Lowell for the last few games of the minor-league calendar. A few of them started this game, including Northcut. With Triston Casas and Nick Decker hurt for essentially the whole season, Northcut was arguably the most intriguing member of this draft class. He was up and down at the GCL, but he made a nice first impression in the New York Penn League with the homer. He could start next year in Greenville.
Player of the Day: The ball was flying in Portland on Tuesday — it was like a billion degrees with humidity here, so that helps — and the SeaDogs got a few homers. The best day overall goes to one of those players with Chad De La Guerra. It’s been a bit of a disappointing year for the infielder, who many (myself included) expected him to take another step forward this season and work his way into the infield depth conversation. That....didn’t happen, but he’s looked better to close out the year and will likely have a chance to get back on track in 2019.