Red Sox Minor Lines: Salem’s the only affiliate winning

Worcester L 4-6

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI, 1 SB, 1 E

Rob Refsnyder, RF: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-5, 2 K

Jaylin Davis, LF: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS/3B: 1-3, 1 BB

Connor Wong, C: 0-4, 2 K

Christin Stewart, DH: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

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

Jeter Downs, PH/SS: 0-2, 1 K

Darwinzon Hernandez (SP; L): 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (43 pitches)

Silvino Bracho: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (27 pitches)

Phillips Valdez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K (33 pitches)

Some poor defense served to undo Worcester in this game, with three of the six runs they allowed being unearned, though one of those was due to Hernandez’s own error. Overall it was a solid enough day for the lefty, whose season in Worcester has been a rollercoaster as the organization looks for him to get his control in check. It was fine here, with just one walk, but he’s still got 16 in 19 ²⁄₃ innings on the season, plus another six hit batters. Bracho has been more successful, now with 20 strikeouts and only two walks over 15 ¹⁄₃ innings this year.

Portland L 4-10

Nick Sogard, 2B: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 E

Devlin Granberg, CF: 1-4, 1 K

Kole Cottam, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Christian Koss, SS: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 E

Dylan Spacke (SP): 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K (44 pitches)

Chris Murphy: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (41 pitches)

Jacob Wallace: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (15 pitches)

Frank German: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K (23 pitches)

It was a rare tough day for the Portland pitching staff, and I’m not really sure why things lined up the way they did with Murphy coming in for the fourth and only throwing two innings. I’ve mentioned that I think he’s a reliever long-term, but I can’t imagine he’s pitched his way out of the rotation as he’s pitched quite well this year. Strange turn of events, but he did well in his short outing despite his defense letting him down. Things didn’t go quite as well for German, who has been one of the bullpen breakouts in the system this year. This was his first really bad outing of the season — and in fact the first outing in which he allowed an earned run — so we just have to hope it was a one-off. Offensively, Sogard had himself a day in the loss, and he’s starting to heat up with three multi-hit games in his last four, and four in his last seven.

Greenville L 7-14

Nick Yorke, 2B: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 SB

Tyler McDonough, LF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 1-4, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

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

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Gilberto Jimenez, RF: 1-5, 2 K

Chih-Jung Liu (SP): 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K (55 pitches)

Ryan Zeferjahn: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K (63 pitches)

We’ve talked the last few days about how Yorke is starting to find his power stroke this month, but the on-base ability has lagged behind a bit. It’s starting to catch up here, getting on base four times, all by either a walk or a single. He’s now up to a .771 OPS on the season, which doesn’t sound all that impressive on its face but is more so when you consider it was at just .606 at the end of April. Greenville also got to work on the bases, with Rafaela staying ahead of Duran for second place in the organization with his 10th stolen base, and Binelas stealing his sixth. That latter number is still kind of blowing my mind this early in the season.

Salem W 9-2

Eddinson Paulino, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Brainer Bonaci, SS: 2-3, 2 BB, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Blaze Jordan, 3B: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 R

Juan Daniel Encarnacion (SP; W): 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K (80 pitches)

Another day, another multi-hit effort for Jordan, who has now had two hits in each of his last four games and has not gone a day in May without a hit. For the month his line is up to .385/.438/.581 as he continues to come out of his season-opening slump. Following in his footsteps is Paulino, another 19-year-old, though one with a bit of a lower profile. He now has a five-game hit streak, including seven hits over his last three games with a .383/.442/.638 line in the month of May. And then there’s Encarnacion, who has not really had a great season with his ERA still sitting over 5.00 even after this outing, but has shown these flashes throughout his pro career so far.

Player of the Day: Juan Daniel Encarnacion

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