Red Sox Minor Lines: Nick Yorke hits his first High-A homer

Worcester W 9-4

Jarren Duran, CF: 0-4, 1 BB, 3 K

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 4-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI

Franchy Cordero, RF: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Joey Meneses, DH: 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI

Connor Wong, C: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Jonathan Araúz, 2B: 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 K

Delino DeShields, LF: 0-3, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 E

Kyle Hart (SP; W): 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (89 pitches)

Austin Brice: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (21 pitches)

Phillips Valdez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (19 pitches)

Muñoz was the talk of the organization for a bit when he was setting the organizational record for longest hit streak. During that streak, though, a lot of the focus was on how empty the batting average seemed to be, with the utility man singling his way to the his numbers. The streak is behind him now, but this certainly wasn’t an empty kind of day. These two homers were his seventh and eighth of the year, and he’s now hitting .314/.343/.456 on the year. There’s a decent case he should be up in September, especially if they’re going to keep Duran down, but making room on the 40-man right now, while not impossible, may not be seen as worth it for what he can provide. But even then, Muñoz should get his chance next spring, whether it be with Boston or another club. Meneses also deserves a shoutout for a two-homer day of his own. A minor-league signing this past winter, he’s quietly had a nice year split between Portland and Worcester.

Kelly O’Connor

Portland L 7-9

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 K

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

Ronaldo Hernández, DH: 1-3, 1 K

Hudson Potts, 3B: 0-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, RF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

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

Jeisson Rosario, CF: 0-4, 1 K

Tyreque Reed, LF: 0-4, 2 K

Frank German (SP; L): 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K (87 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (15 pitches)

Where did this power come from? Cannon has had a bit of an up-and-down year, which isn’t surprising from a solid but certainly not blue chip prospect, but it’s been more about getting on base than anything else. But here he is in Portland, having just been promoted a couple weeks earlier, and he’s got three homers in as many days. He only has eight hits since being promoted, but five of them have gone for extra bases. On the mound, Martinez is really starting to find his groove. Over the last two months he’s allowed just one run over 16 ¹⁄₃ innings, striking out 23 and walking five. For the season he has 46 strikeouts over 31 ²⁄₃ innings with a sub-3.00 ERA. The stuff here has always been intriguing, and now the consistency is starting to show up as well. It’s never really made sense to me that he doesn’t get more shine as a pure relief prospect in this system, but if he closes out this season strong he should get some recognition next spring.

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Greenville W 5-4 (F/11)

Nick Yorke, 2B: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Christian Koss, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 2-5, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 E

Joe Davis, DH: 0-5

Jaxx Groshans, C: 0-5, 1 K

Stephen Scott, 1B: 2-5, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Yusniel Padron-Artiles (SP): 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (84 pitches)

Jacob Wallace (BS): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K (32 pitches)

If it feels like every day we’re leading things off with talking about a big day for Yorke, that’s only because that has been the case for a couple of months now. The infielder just continues to impress despite a move up to High-A, smashing his first homer at the level in this game. His power has been particularly impressive this month, with eight of his 11 homers on the season coming in August. Over on the mound, Padron-Artiles had a second straight terrific start. He’s now allowed just one run over his last 12 innings, striking out 15 and walking three.

Salem W 8-3

Tyler McDonough, DH: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI

Nick Decker, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Niko Kavadas, 1B: 0-4, 1 K

Blaze Jordan, 3B: 1-4, 1 R, 2 K, 1 E

Ceddanne Rafaela, LF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Shane Drohan (SP): 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (80 pitches)

Joey Stock (W): 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (30 pitches)

This was a wilder game than the final score would suggest, as Salem was actually trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh when they scored seven runs in the inning to run away with the win. Nobody really stood out offensively aside from Rafaela with his two-run homer, which came in at number nine in the year. We did see the first game from Kavadas in full-season ball, though it wasn’t a notable one. On the mound, Drohan wasn’t great but Stock was. We haven’t really talked about him much this year, but he was among the team’s undrafted free agents last summer and he’s been terrific this year. After starting on the complex and making three appearances there, he’s made three in Salem and has a total of 18 ¹⁄₃ innings under his belt on the season. In those innings he’s pitched to a 2.45 ERA with 29 strikeouts and only four walks. At 23 years old and a pure reliever we want to see this further up the ladder, but it’s a nice start to his professional career.

Player of the Day: Yairo Muñoz

Player of the Day Chart