Pawtucket W 5-4
Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B: 0-3, 1 BB
Rusney Castillo, RF: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS
Michael Chavis, 3B: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI
Sam Travis, DH: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K
Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K
Bryce Brentz, LF: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 CS
Sandy León, C: 0-3
Travis Lakins: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (18 pitches)
Bobby Poyner: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K (22 pitches)
It was a good win for the now 6-4 PawSox on Sunday, though they did almost blow it in the later innings. They got good performances from Lakins and Poyner — Lakins’ in particular was nice to see given some early-season struggles from the righty — to close out the final two frames, though. On offense, Chavis hit his second homer in as many days as he is putting that little early-season slump way down in the rear-view. Ockimey also went deep — both players’ home runs were their third on the year — and on top of that he drew a bases loaded walk to give Pawtucket their first run of the afternoon. Throw in a three-hit day for Castillo and it was a good day for familiar names in Pawtucket’s lineup.
Portland L 0-10
Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-4, 1 BB
C.J. Chatham, SS: 0-3, 1 BB
Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-4, 1 BB, 3 K
Luke Tendler, DH: 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
Denyi Reyes: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K (87 pitches)
Zach Schellenger: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 0 K (31 pitches)
Yikes. This one was bad for the Sea Dogs, who are now 1-6, right from the start and never got better. Netzer was the lone positive on offense, but I want to talk about the pitching here. Reyes is obviously a name to watch this season after being added to the 40-man this past winter. Starts like this are what scouts are concerned about given his relative lack of stuff. If he doesn’t have his command, he’s going to be hit hard and he’s also going to give up a lot of walks, as he doesn’t have the arsenal to get a ton of swings on pitches out of the zone. Reyes was great in his first start of the year, so we’re certainly not panicking just yet. More concerning to me is Schellenger, who is a guy I thought had a very real chance to get to the major-league bullpen this summer. He’s had a brutal start to the year with his ERA up to 19.29 through three outings and, even worse, with eight walks to two strikeouts in 2 1⁄3 innings.
Salem PPD
Greenville L 7-8
Cole Brannen, CF: 0-5, 3 K
Triston Casas, 3B: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 E
Juan Carlos Abreu, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Korby Batesole, 2B: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K
Alan Marrero, C: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 K, 1 E
Brayan Bello: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K (76 pitches)
Yoan Aybar: 0 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K (27 pitches)
Logan Browning: 3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K (63 pitches)
This was a rough one for the Drive (4-6), who have up six in the fifth thanks to a total implosion from Aybar, but there were some positives. Abreu, who crushed the GCL in 2018, had a nice day at the plate and Marrero hit his first homer of the year. Plus, Bello got some results despite allowing seven baserunners in four innings while Browning, a 24th round pick last summer, had a big day. The latter now has a 2.16 ERA in 8 1⁄3 innings with 14 strikeouts and two walks. On the other hand, Brannen continues to look totally lost at the plate and Casas, while solid at the plate showed us why he’s probably not long for third base with a pair of throwing errors.
Player of the Day: There were a handful of good performances on Sunday, though really stand out as outstanding. I’m going to give this one to Michael Chavis, getting a slight edge of Rusney Castillo due to the home run. Chavis now has three homers on the year and is hitting .258/.351/.581 over his first nine games of the year. This was also his fourth game at third base, and interestingly he’s also played four at second and just one at first base.