Red Sox Minor Lines: Rehabbing with Dustin Pedroia and Eduardo Núñez

Pawtucket G1 L 1-10

Eduardo Núñez, DH: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Rusney Castillo, RF: 0-3

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-3, 1 K

Sam Travis, LF: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 0-3, 1 K

Erasmo Ramírez: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K (77 pitches)

Travis Lakins: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (13 pitches)

Pawtucket G2 W 6-5 (F/8)

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Rusney Castillo, DH: 2-4, 3 R

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI

Sam Travis, LF: 0-4, 2 K

Óscar Hernández, C: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jenrry Meia: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (19 pitches)

Josh Taylor: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (25 pitches)

It was almost a very tough day for Pawtucket in this doubleheader, but a Cole Sturgeon sacrifice fly in the eighth gave the PawSox an extra-inning lead (remember, minor-league games are only seven innings each in doubleheaders) and they held on in the bottom. The first game was almost entirely a disaster, though Eduardo Núñez did hit a home run. They are hoping he’ll be ready to join the major-league squad in Baltimore on Monday. The second game obviously had a better results, and Óscar Hernández hit a homer, but the bullpen was the story. Both Mejia and Taylor have been really good all year, and honestly they should probably be up in the majors right now in place of Josh Smith and Tyler Thornburg.

Portland L 1-10

Marcus Wilson, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

Dustin Pedroia, 2B: 0-3

Brett Netzer, DH: 1-4, 1 K

C.J. Chatham, SS: 0-4

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Denyi Reyes: 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K (107 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 0 K (31 pitches)

Just a disastrous night in Portland, at least on the pitching side. The big story here, however, was the start of Pedroia’s rehab. He didn’t have any hits, though he did make a couple of plays in the field without issue. Also on offense, Dalbec had himself a nice game as he tries to recover from a rough start to his year. On the pitching side, though, Reyes continues to struggle mightily against Double-A competition. He did make it through six here, but he keeps giving up runs and his strikeout-to-walk numbers are not much better. He’s now made five starts this year for a total of 24 ¹⁄₃ innings and he has a 7.03 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 13 walks. That’s disappointing. Also disappointing: Feltman’s night. He seemingly had no command in this one and was left to fend for himself. This night caused his ERA to explode up to 7.88 and he now has seven walks in eight innings of work on the year.

Salem L 2-3

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-5, 2 K, 1 SB

Marco Hernandez, SS: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R

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

Ryan Fitzgerald, 2B: 2-4, 1 CS

Kutter Crawford: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 8 K (91 pitches)

Eduardo Bazardo: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (31 pitches)

Yesterday I talked about how good the top half of Salem’s offense has been and how they can’t be stopped, so it’s only natural they get stopped the following day. The top of the lineup was still solid with four of the top five guys getting a hit and three of them having two, but the rest of the lineup didn’t do anything. Meanwhile, Crawford was solid and his strikeout stuff was dynamite, but he couldn’t combine that with efficiency. Bazardo continues to pitch extremely well in a multi-inning role, though. Through seven appearances and 20 innings, the 23-year-old righty has a 1.35 ERA with 19 strikeouts and five walks. I wonder if they’ll find a way to get him some regular starts later in the year.

Greenville L 5-7

Brandon Howlett, 3B 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Devlin Graberg, 1B: 3-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI

Triston Casas, DH: 1-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

Grant Williams, SS: 2-4, 1 R

Alex Scerff: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 K (85 pitches)

Oddanier Mosqueda: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (35 pitches)

Coming into this game, Scherff was riding high and dominating his second run through Low-A. The 21-year-old had an ERA of just 1.89 through his first four starts, allowing one or zero runs in three of those four outings. This one hurt those numbers. He did give up six singles, which can likely partially be explained by bad, minor-league defense. However, he also wasn’t missing bats and did allow three doubles. If you don’t miss bats, you open yourself up to the BABIP gods. Offensively, Howlett was moved up to second in the lineup after his recent hot streak and Casas hit his four homer of the year. It was his second straight day with a dinger and his third in the last week.

Player of the Day: There weren’t a ton of options here, with the considerations being guys like Dalbec, Mosqueda and Bazardo, but ultimately I’m giving this to Devlin Granberg for the second day in a row. He is not normally the type of prospect to get this twice by this point in the year, never mind twice in a row — but he’s hit a hot streak right now. He’ll need the rest of the Greenville roster to pick it up at some point soon, but for now he’s putting himself back on the map after a rough start to his 2019.