Red Sox Minor Lines: Bobby Dalbec homers again

Pawtucket W 3-2

Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Bryce Brentz, DH: 1-4, 1 BB

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

Rusney Castillo, RF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 CS

Juan Centeno, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Teddy Stankiewicz: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K (89 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (21 pitches)

It was a nail-biter of a game for Pawtucket, who won in the eighth inning thanks to an RBI double from Cole Sturgeon. Beyond the general excitement of the late win, there wasn’t too much going on here. Centeno did have another multi-hit game as he’s heated up over the last few weeks, while Kelly pushed his ERA down to 1.14 out of the bullpen in 22 appearances this year.

Portland L 4-5

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-5, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 E

Joey Curletta, 1B: 1-4, 2 K

Brett Netzer, 2B: 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jeremy Rivera, DH: 2-4, 1 RBI, 2 K

Denyi Reyes: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 8 K (88 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (10 pitches)

This was a tough loss for Portland, who took the lead in the top of the seventh only to surrender it right back in the bottom of the inning. There were some positives, though, including another homer for Dalbec. We all know about his power, but it’s showing off in a big way this year as he now has 14 homers in 57 games. That’s a 37-homer pace over 150 games. Meanwhile, Duran isn’t stringing together hits yet but did show off his speed with a triple, Reyes controlled the strike zone but allowed too many hits. Finally, Feltman is performing a bit better of late with four straight scoreless appearances and seven in his last eight.

Salem G1 L 3-9

Victor Acosta, DH: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 1-3

Jagger Rusconi, 2B: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 R

Rio Gomez: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (29 pitches)

Salem G2 L 2-7

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 0-3

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 0-3

Marcus Wilson, CF: 1-3, 1 R, 2 K

Zach Schellenger: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K (20 pitches)

This was a brutal doubleheader for Salem, who is starting to cool off in a big way. Fitzgerald and Castellanos were big parts of their early-season lineup along with Duran, but both of them have taken a step back of late. The lineup has been totally punchless more often than not lately, with Wilson as the top contributor. They are far too susceptible to these types of games right now.

Greenville L 4-5

Cole Brannen, CF: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K

Kole Cottam, C: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Tyler Dearden, DH: 1-4, 1 3B, 2 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 2 E

Thad Ward: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 7 K (86 pitches)

It was bound to end eventually. Ward had been on an absurd run of success lately, failing to allow an earned run in each of his previous five starts heading into this one. An outing like this was always going to happen, of course, and really it could have been worse. Only allowing two runs on five hits and four walks in four innings is better than it would be for most. The key now is to see how he bounced back from a suboptimal performance.

DSL 1 W 9-1

Brainer Bonaci, SS: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Alex Zapete, 3B: 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Carlos Velez: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

DSL 2 L 0-4

Bryan Gonzalez, RF: 0-4, 1 K

Player of the Day: It was a pretty rough day in the system without a whole lot of standout performances, but I’ll give this one to Kole Cottam, last year’s fourth round pick. The catching prospect got off to a somewhat rough start this year but he’s starting to turn it around with the bat. He’s now got a seven-game hit streak going and in that time he has raised his OPS from .681 to .759. Catcher development is always tricky and rarely linear, but Cottam is a guy to watch moving forward.