Red Sox Minor Lines: Bryan Mata’s very bad, not good day

Pawtucket W 7-3

Tzu-Wei Lin, CF: 1-4, 1 RBI

Chris Owings, 2B: 0-4, 2 K

Rusney Castillo, RF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Chad De La Guerra, SS: 1-4, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-4, 1 R, 3 K

Josh Ockimey, DH: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Kyle Hart: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K (98 pitches)

Travis Lakins: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K (23 pitches)

Ryan Brasier: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (17 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (16 pitches)

This was kind of a strange seven-run game for the PawSox offense, who had only two multi-hit games in their lineup and three total extra-base hits. Ockimey had one of the extra-base hits as he’s been heating up over the last week or so. The first baseman had been virtually nonexistent for much of the second half, recently going hitless in eight straight games and 12 of 13. Since July 27, though, he has hits in all but one of his eight games played with four homers in that span.

Portland L 4-10

Jarren Duran, CF: 3-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Marcus Wilson, RF: 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 PO, 1 E

C.J. Chatham, 2B: 1-4, 1 RBI

Joey Curletta, 1B: 0-2 1 BB, 2 K

Brett Netzer, DH: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Bryan Mata: 0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 0 K (27 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (33 pitches)

Sometimes it’s just not your day and, folks, this was not Bryan Mata’s day. The top pitching prospect in the Red Sox farm system had an absolutely disastrous outing on Sunday, not even recording an out. Bowie went single, single, double, triple, single and that was that for Mata. The good news is that, as of now, I haven’t heard anything about an injury. It was just one of those days that we’ll try to forget. More positively, Duran continues to finally break out against Double-A pitching.

Salem L 1-2

Ryan Fitzgerald, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 0-4, 1 K

Thad Ward: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 K (96 pitches)

Rio Gomez: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (22 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (3 pitches)

Generally, it’s been a good thing that Mata and Ward are on the same schedule because it makes for an exciting day of box score watching. That’s not really the case today. Obviously Ward’s afternoon was nowhere close to the disaster of Mata’s, but it wasn’t great either. Despite allowing the two runs he did allow nine baserunners in five innings, with four of them being walks. Ward has had a phenomenal season and has emerged as a legitimate prospect in this system, but he may be starting to fade as his command has been a bit off in his last few starts. The good news is he’s still been able to work around the trouble and keep his results at a palatable level.

Greenville L 2-8

Tyler Esplin, RF: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 E

Devlin Granberg, 1B: 1-4

Chase Shugart: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (84 pitches)

There’s not a whole lot to say about this one, which was a disaster from start to finish for the Drive. Howlett did have an extra-base hit, his first since July 21. In fact, it was only his second hit period in that span of eight games. He’s had an up-and-down year — offensively and defensively — which isn’t totally surprising given that he doesn’t turn 20 for another five weeks.

Lowell L 2-4

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-5

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K

Stephen Scott, LF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Joe Davis, DH: 2-4, 1 RBI

Jaxx Groshans, C: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Nicholas Northcut, 3B: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

Antoni Flores, SS: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI

Ryan Zeferjahn: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K (34 pitches)

It can be really hard to talk about this level because it is so hard to get a read on these guys from just the box score. That’s true of every level, of course, but it’s more true the lower you go in the system. For example, it’s been a brutal year for Flores and Northcut, who have OPS’s of .541 and .552, respectively. And yet, I haven’t really heard much of any backtracking on either of them. These players are super young and super raw and part of developing is going through these types of growing pains.