Red Sox Minor Lines: Rain gets in the way

Pawtucket L 1-4

Janzten Witte: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Rusney Castillo, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Sam Travis, LF: 2-4

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 0-4

Josh Tobias, 2B: 2-4, 1 R, 2 K

Teddy Stankiewicz: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (66 pitches)

Bobby Poyner: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (17 pitches)

This was a rough game for the Paw Sox, who are in the midst of a skid right now. They have lost four in a row, five of six and seven of nine. The offense was essentially nonexistent in this game, with Witte’s RBI double in the seventh being the only extra-base hit on the day from Pawtucket. Perhaps even more concerning is that they only drew two walks, too, with both being from Ockimey. Gwinnett had the same number hits (8) as Pawtucket in this game, but they drew one more walk and had four extra-base hits including two homers. One positive here is that Bobby Poyner had a big inning as he looks like he’s snapping out of his recent funk.

Portland PPD

SAL G1 CANC

SAL G2 CANC

Greenville L 2-4

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-5, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, DH: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 0-4, 2 K

Grant Williams, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K

Logan Browning: 1 IP, 0 H,0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (12 pitches)

This was a similar loss to that of Pawtucket above, though Greenville did jump out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to an RBI ground out from Casas. However, Asheville scored two of their own in the bottom half of the first and never lost the lead from there. It’s sort of a stars and scrubs lineup for Greenville right now, with guys like Granberg, Casas and Kole Cottam swinging a hot bat right now but guys like Brannen and Esplin doing mostly nothing. That Brannen is pretty much always at the top of the lineup and Esplin is often right behind him (though not in this game) doesn’t help much. Of course, the goal there is development and not necessarily wins. On a more positive note, Browning has been quite good this year, pitching to a 3.05 ERA with 28 strikeouts and just four walks in 20 ²⁄₃ innings.

Player of the Day: Yeesh. There’s really no one who deserves this, but I’ll go with Witte, who had three hits including Pawtucket’s only extra-base hit. Witte, 29, has been in the organization since 2013 when he was a 24th rough draft pick. He’s had some solid seasons at different points in the organization, but he’s simply an organizational guy.