Red Sox Minor Lines: Grant Gambrell makes his organizational debut

Worcester W 11-2

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-6, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Marcus Wilson, RF: 0-5, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Franchy Cordero, DH: 1-2, 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Michael Chavis, 1B: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 K

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 0-4, 1 BB

Jonathan Araúz, 2B: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Chris Hermann, C: 3-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 K

Jack López, SS: 3-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

John Schreiber (SP): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (9 pitches)

Kyle Hart (W): 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K (109 pitches)

Phillips Valdez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (16 pitches)

This was a big game for the offense, but again it’s the Worcester pitching that I’m most concerned with today. And not concerned in a bad way, because the group was fantastic on Saturday. Schreiber looks like he could get a chance this season with the way he’s pitching, as he’s down to a 2.45 ERA on the year. Meanwhile, Hart continues to be way up and down, but even more than his specific performance it’s interesting that they continue to use an opener in front of their starters. And finally, Valdez had a clean inning in his first appearances in Worcester for what he hopes is a short stint. On the offense, we should give a shoutout to Chavis, who hit one of the three homers on the day for Worcester and is now 8 for his last 15 with two homers and a double over his last four games.

Portland L 2-4

Jeisson Rosario, RF: 1-3, 1 R

Pedro Castellanos, LF: 1-2, 1 BB

Triston Casas, DH: 1-4, 2 K, 1 CS

Hudson Potts, 3B: 0-4, 3 K, 1 E

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Brayan Bello (SP): 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K (78 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (30 pitches)

Zack Kelly: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (27 pitches)

This was a tough day for Portland overall, but much of the trouble came later in the game, at least on the pitching side. Early on, it was Bello making his Double-A debut, and holding his own. He certainly wasn’t as dominant as he had been with Greenville before the promotion, but that’s to be expected in his first start at a new level. Plus, as Sox Prospects’s Chris Hatfield pointed out, there are reasons why his performance is better than the numbers indicate. Meanwhile, Potts continues to stumble out of the gates after missing so much of the early part of the season with injury. He has just one single in three games since returning.

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Greenville W 3-2 (F/10)

Christian Koss, SS: 2-5, 1 K, 1 CS

Tyler Esplin, CF: 1-5, 2 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-5, 1 K, 1 E

Dominic D’Alessandro, DH: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Cole Brannen, RF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Grant Gambrell (SP): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (72 pitches)

Dylan Spacke: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (18 pitches)

Brendan Cellucci: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (12 pitches)

Shoutout to Brannen, who is a former second round pick that just never got his career off the ground. And while this has been another tough year with a sub-.200 average, he won this game on an in-side-the-park homer in the 10th. Meanwhile, on the mound it was Grant Gambrell from the Andrew Benintendi trade making his debut with the organization. He didn’t really show off his stuff much, seemingly pitching to contact a bit more with just the one strikeout, but it appears to have worked as there was little damage against him in this outing. We’ll see how he builds on this, and eventually we’ll need to see some strikeouts, but for a debut he certainly got off on the right foot.

Salem G1 L 0-7

Gilberto Jimenez, RF: 1-3, 1 E

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-3, 1 K, 1 SB

Nick Northcut, 3B: 0-3, 1 K

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 1-2, 1 BB

Bradley Blalock (SP; L): 3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 K (56 pitches)

Jorge Rodriguez: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 3 K (52 pitches)

Salem G2 W 6-4

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 R

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 E

Jaxx Groshans, C: 1-3, 1 BB

Joe Davis, 1B: 2-4, 1 RBI

Nick Northcut, 3B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-4

Wil Dalton, LF/RF: 2-3

Dean Miller, DH: 2-3

Stephen Scott, PH/LF: 1-1, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Shane Drohan (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 1 K (69 pitches)

Salem was able to split this doubleheader, which is all you can really ask or, though the pitching didn’t really show out on Saturday. In the first game, they used only two pitchers for the seven innings, but neither really did all that well. Rodriguez in particular has been a bit of a disappointment for most of the year. Many, including myself, hoped to see a big step forward and breakout from the lefty this year, but his ERA is now at an even 6.00 for the year. That said, don’t sleep on him yet as he has 24 strikeouts to just five walks in 24 innings of work. Meanwhile, Drohan got solid enough results, but the five walks to one strikeout is concerning. Last year’s fifth round pick got off to a terrific start, but has struggled now in two of his last three outings. These next couple times out will be interesting to watch for Drohan.

Player of the Day: Franchy Cordero

Player of the Day Chart