Red Sox Minor Lines: Brian Johnson struggles in rehab outing

Pawtucket G1 L 2-9

Rusney Castillo, RF: 1-4, 2 K

Sam Travis, 1B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, DH: 0-4, 2 K

Marco Hernandez, 2B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 E

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 1-1, 2 BB

Bobby Poyner: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (26 pitches)

Pawtucket G2 W 7-6 (F/8)

Rusney Castillo, RF: 1-4, 1 R

Sam Travis, DH: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 2-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Marco Hernandez, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Cole Sturgeon, LF: 2-4, 3 RBI, 1 SB

Mike Shawaryn: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K (95 pitches)

Jenrry Mejia: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K (28 pitches)

Josh Taylor: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (18 pitches)

It was actually a pretty good day all things considered for Pawtucket, especially when you factor in that most of the damage against them in the first game actually happened the day before. That game was suspended after two innings on Saturday, which came after Erasmo Ramírez had allowed six runs in the first. The second game obviously went better, though the pitching was not great and Mejia allowed two in the bottom of the seventh to push this one to extras. Hernandez had another good day, though, contributing a couple extra-base hits including a homer as he continues to impress in his return from the shoulder surgeries. Also, Josh Ockimey had a triple and I am dying to know how that happened.

Portland L 2-7

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

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

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-4, 2 K

Brian Johnson: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K (56 pitches)

People who went to the game in Portland on Sunday were likely expecting to see Brock Holt and Dustin Pedroia, along with Johnson, but only saw the latter and the latter was not good. It was extremely nice out here in May, so there’s that, but they did not get to see a good game. Johnson really struggled in this rehab outing, and while it’s not all about results here you certainly want to see better than this. He’ll have at least one more outing before getting back to the majors, and it’s possible we’ll see a couple. Meanwhile, Dalbec is starting to get into a mini-slump with just one hit over his last four games (14 at bats) with six strikeouts and no walks.

Salem L 5-8

Jarren Duran, CF: 0-5, 1 SB

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-4, 1 R

Marcus Wilson, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Jagger Rusconi, RF 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

For the second time this year, Duran has gone two straight games without a hit, with the other instance happening on the third and fourth of May. It’s a sure sign of a apocalypse, and it knocked his batting average all the way down to .403. Scrub! More seriously, this game was lost by the pitching, and specifically the starting pitching. Daniel Gonzalez allowed eight runs, including four in the fifth right after Salem had tied the game at three in the previous inning. If you’re looking for good news, Wilson is starting to swing the bat much better after extreme struggles immediately following his trade to Boston.

Greenville L 2-7

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-5, 2 K

Devlin Granberg, DH: 1-3, 1 BB

Triston Casas, 1B: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Dylan Hardy, RF: 2-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 K

A bad day for the pitching all around continued here for Greenville, too. The offense wasn’t great here either, though the big names in Casas and Howlett each got on base multiple times, as did Granberg from that same 2018 draft class. With his latest game, getting on base three times on Sunday, Casas is now hitting .268/.341/.484 as a 19-year-old, putting his slow start far behind him.

Player of the Day: There really aren’t a lot of great options here for this one, but I’m going to go with Jeremy Rivera in a losing effort, just barely squeezing out Marco Hernandez in a double-header. Rivera is a glove-first shortstop who doesn’t always get mentioned here, but he’s had some moments with the bat over his career and can get into streaks where he’s spraying line drives all over the yard. Rivera has a .698 OPS on the year after his two-extra-base hit game on Sunday, which doesn’t sound great but is actually a career-best for him.