Red Sox Minor Lines: Brock Holt goes yard

Pawtucket W 5-4

Marco Hernandez, SS/2B: 0-4, 2 K

Brock Holt, 2B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Dustin Pedroia, DH: 1-4, 1 R

Sam Travis, 1B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Bryce Brentz, LF: 1-4, 1 K

Travis Lakins: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (13 pitches)

The Paw Sox had been struggling of late heading into this game on Sunday, having lost seven of their previous eight games. They got a big swing from the rehabbing Brock Holt to start off their scoring, though, and a four-run fourth was the big inning to catapult them to victory. There wasn’t really any sort of standout here beyond Holt’s home run, but rather they got contributions from just about everyone with every starter besides Hernandez having exactly one hit. Whatever works.

Portland L 4-5

Brett Netzer, 2B: 1-5, 1 2B, 2 K

C.J. Chatham, SS: 2-5, 1 K, 1 SB

Bobby Dalbec, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Charlie Madden, C: 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

Denyi Reyes: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K (79 pitches)

Zach Schellenger: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 0 K (32 pitches)

Frustration abound in Portland, who were down 5-1 heading into the ninth but came very close to coming back. Madden had the big swing here as his second homer of the day came in the ninth to bring Portland to within one. They couldn’t push one more across the force extras, though. On the positive, this was a huge day for Madden in his first game of the year with Portland. Additionally, Reyes didn’t have dominant stuff but he still for very good results. On the negative side, Schellenger was terrible again and allowed two more walks than outs recorded. That’s the third time this year he’s allowed at least three walks without pitching at least one full inning. Overall, the righty now has 21 walks in 8 ²⁄₃ innings in what’s been a tremendously disappointing year.

Salem L 2-5

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Marcus Wilson, RF: 0-4, 2 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Salem missed three straight games last weekend, and since that time they have been scuffling with a 2-5 record. Over the last couple days in particular it was the offense struggling. On Sunday, with Wilson now down from Portland, they couldn’t get anything going over the course of that game. Losing Marco Hernandez is going to hurt that lineup, but Duran, Castellanos and Ryan Fitzgerald (who had Sunday off) is still a good trio. They just haven’t been able to produce much over the last couple days.

Greenville W 8-4

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-5, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jordan Wren, LF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 2-4, 2 R

Kervin Suarez, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Alex Scherff: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K (73 pitches)

Yoan Aybar: 1 IP, 1 H 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (16 pitches)

Logan Browning: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (56 pitches)

All of the action from this game was squeezed into the stretch from the second through the fourth innings, with Greenville scoring five in the bottom of the second for the difference-making frame. That got big contributions from a few different guys, with Wren standing out above the rest. The son of Red Sox front office member Frank Wren, Jordan is 24 so he isn’t quite age-appropriate for the league. Greenville also got a multi-hit game from Howlett, who continues to look better since his early-season slump. On the mound, it was not the most impressive day from Scherff as the righty continues to slide following a huge start to the 2019 season.

Player of the Day: This one was a no-brainer, and while the affiliates went 2-2 the Player of the Day came from one of the losing teams. Charlie Madden blasted two home runs and added another hit on top of that. The catcher is not a top prospect and has played in just 13 games between Salem and Portland this year, but he made the most of his Double-A debut. There is some offensive upside here, but ultimately we’re talking about a former 24th round pick who is 23 years old. Madden is likely an organizational piece, but every once in awhile he can have days like this.