Red Sox Minor Lines: Portland wins behind a four-homer inning

Worcester L 2-4

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 K

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

Franchy Cordero, RF: 0-4

Yolmer Sánchez, 2B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, LF: 1-4, 1 2B

Brian Keller (SP): 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K (45 pitches)

Silvino Bracho: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (22 pitches)

Derek Holland (H): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (13 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo (H): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (12 pitches)

This was a tough loss for Worcester, who was winning 2-1 for most of this game before Geoff Hartlieb, who’s having a rough year, gave up three runs to blow the save in the eighth. In terms of individuals, not a whole hell of a lot to report. Derek Holland, as Chris Hatfield of Sox Prospects pointed out, has an opt-out approaching on May 1 and has been used a lot approaching that decision. It’s tough to lose solid pitching depth, but if it comes to it they may have to as there’s no obvious 40-man spot to keep him around. I’d also look at Bracho as an interesting name to remember. He’s got some MLB experience, and while he did give up a home run in each of his first two outings, overall he’s got 11 strikeouts to just two walks over 7 ¹⁄₃ innings this year. That’s not to say he should be called up now, but if they need arms later in the year he could be an option.

Portland W 13-5

Christian Koss, SS: 4-5, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Tyler Dearden, LF: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 2 K

Devlin Granberg, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Pedro Castellanos, DH: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI

Kole Cottam, C: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R

Hudson Potts, 1B: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Wil Dalton, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Josh Taylor (SP): 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K (21 pitches)

Jay Groome (W): 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K (84 pitches)

The ball was flying at Hadlock on Sunday, and in the first inning in particular with the Sea Dogs hitting four in that frame, including a grand slam from Castellanos. Koss also got in on the party after what’s been a quiet start for him. He’s kind of an underrated player in this system, with an interesting potential as a bench player just without a huge ceiling. He gave a huge boost to his numbers in this game, and is now up to an .829 OPS on the season. On the mound this was Taylor’s second rehab outing after sitting out for a bit due to being a COVID close contact. He’s still knocking some rust off, it seems.

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Greenville L 6-10

Tyler McDonough, CF: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E

Alex Binelas, 3B: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Nicholas Northcut, 1B: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 E

Alex Erro, LF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Chih-Jung Liu (SP; L): 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (82 pitches)

McDonough is another player in a similar vein to Koss in that there’s not a huge ceiling but he could move relatively quickly and has a future as a bench piece if things break right. He’s showing off a bit of pop early with this being his third homer, and he’s finally starting to draw walks the last few days after not doing so much at all this season. As for Liu, we see both the good and the bad here. His stuff is no joke, and he struck out the first five batters he saw in this game. He also needed 82 pitches to go 3 ¹⁄₃ innings. There’s a path for him to be an exciting pitcher, but he’s got to rein in the stuff somehow.

Salem L 0-9

Eddinson Paulino, SS: 0-4, 1 K, 1 E

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 2-4, 1 K

Blaze Jordan, 3B: 2-4

Tyler Miller, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B

Juan Daniel Encarnacion (SP; L): 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K (73 pitches)

I’ll be honest, not to much to say about this one, besides again pointing out some shaky defense from Paulino. He’s now up to eight errors already this season. If we want a positive, Jordan had his first multi-hit game of the day, which we’ll take at this point even with just two singles. We’re still waiting for that power to play this season, though.

Player of the Day: Christian Koss

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