Red Sox Minor Lines: A hiccup for Bryan Mata

Pawtucket G1 W 5-3

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 1-5

Chris Owings, 2B: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R

Bryce Brentz, DH: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 K

Sam Travis, LF: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jantzen Witte, 3B: 2-4

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 K

Tyler Thornburg: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (30 pitches)

Josh Smith: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K (76 pitches)

Darwinzon Hernandez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (22 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K (19 pitches)

Pawtucket G2 W 5-4

Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 K

Chris Owings, SS: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB

Bryce Brentz, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Sam Travis, LF: 2-4, 2 RBI

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

Kyle Hart: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K (78 pitches)

Mike Shawaryn: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K (36 pitches)

It was a good day for Pawtucket, whose first game wasn’t quite a full game but just picking up suspended action from Saturday. The offense at Triple-A kind of is what it is at this point, with more established players than prospects. The pitching is the more interesting part of this roster. Thornburg served as the opener in that first game, and while he got through a scoreless inning it took a lot of pitches. The Red Sox have to make a decision on the righty today as his rehab clock is over, so that could have been his final appearance with the organization. More positively, it was a second scoreless outing out of the bullpen from Hernandez. More importantly, it was a second straight walk-less outing out of the bullpen.

Portland L 2-7

C.J. Chatham, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB

Bryan Mata: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (98 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K (37 pitches)

Mata has been perhaps the best pitcher in the Red Sox system this year, at least when he’s been healthy. Some other guys (Thad Ward) have an argument, but there’s no doubt Mata has opened eyes in 2019. That was not the case on Sunday, as the righty had his worst outing of the year. There’s obviously nothing to worry about due to just one bad start, and sometimes it can be good to see how a young pitcher bounces back from this kind of outing.

Salem SUSP

Greenville W 5-2

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI

Triston Casas, 1B: 0-3, 1 BB

Logan Browning: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K (49 pitches)

This was a bizarre game for the Drive, who scored five runs and won the game despite finishing with only two hits. That’s because Charleston could not find the strike zone, walking seven Greenville batters on the day. Esplin, who has had a tough season overall, had the big swing in this one when he cleared the bases with a double when his team was trailing 1-0. Also of note: Brandon Howlett has now missed four games in a row.

Lowell L 2-5

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-5

Jaxx Groshans, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Nicholas Northcut, 3B: 2-4, 1 R

Nick Decker, RF: 0-4

Antoni Flores, SS: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 E

The Spinners couldn’t pick up the win on Sunday, and Flores continues to struggle at the bottom of this lineup. The shortstop is arguably the best prospect on this roster — Sox Prospects did move Jimenez above him on their rankings — but he has struggled out of the gates. Now, we know better than to just scout the statline, particularly the lower in the system you go. Flores is 18 years old (he’ll turn 19 in October) and had all of 15 professional games under his belt coming into this year. Struggles were to be expected. Still, he is hitting .148/.270/.185 on the year and has been a big shaky with the glove as well. The reports have still been positive for the young infielder, however. It’s been a disappointing start on the statline, but it’s far from time to panic about him.

Futures Game T 2-2

Jarren Duran: 1-2, 1 SB

The Futures Game ended in a tie on Sunday, which was a little lame. For some reason the rules were changed to make this a seven inning game, and they played one extra inning with the score tied. Seems dumb (scheduling only seven innings, not ending in a tie), but that’s a discussion for another day. Duran was the lone Red Sox representative in the game, and he got two at bats late in the game. In the first, he chopped out to second base. Then, he came up in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh with one out and a runner on second. He had a chance to walk it off, and he got a bloop single out to left field. It didn’t get the run home, though.