I hope everyone’s Father’s Day treated them well. I know the Red Sox’s clean sweep of the Yankees — and the fact that neither game was that close — made this day special for me, so I can imagine how it felt for the fathers on this site! The minor leagues had a pretty great day as well, as just one club lost in extra innings. We had another great day at the plate by Worcester, and Greenville came from behind to win. So, let’s get into it!

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Worcester: W, 11-5 (BOX SCORE)

Because I am a nitpicker at heart, I will start with the negative observation despite clearly having few reasons to do so: Jake Faria had yet another questionable start against the Norfolk Tides (Orioles AAA). As a guy with substantial service time, I do not know why he is on the roster if the intention is not to move him up, which, with these numbers, I do not see why the team would wan to do. But, I’ve been wrong before!

Luckily, Faria’s pitching was a benchmark in this one following a decisively good day at the plate — another one! — for the WooSox: 11 runs on 14 hits, no big deal. The team also drew 8 walks on the day. To be fair, half of these 8 came on behalf of Dillon Tate, who allowed 4 runs without recording an out, but progress is progress!

Christian Koss, who got the start at second base today, is finding his footing in Triple-A, and was a home run shy of the cycle. Niko Goodrum also enjoyed three hits on the day, and the WooSox got 5 hits with runners in scoring position... and 8 of their 9 batters reached the plate today. By the way, Dalbec got his 41st RBI of the season and his OPS remains over 1.000... no particular reason why I’m saying that, though.

Portland: L, 3-4 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)

Portland is the only affiliate to not secure a win on Father’s Day in this bullpen game. After Niko Kavadas continued mashing with his 12th home run of the season, the Sea Dogs carried a 2-0 lead into the 5th, when they let the Rumble Ponies (Mets AA) back into it. After scoring in the tenth via a Tyler Dearden grounder to score Elih Marrero, Binghamton scored two in the bottom of the frame to see Portland fall to a still-respectable 38-25. It stings because Binghamton had left 16 men on base, but perhaps it means the better team who can get more guys on did win today. Don’t look now, and I’m still not worried, but Marcelo Mayer had another off day at the plate, though he did draw a walk; his OBP sits at just .229. It goes without saying, that’s going to need to improve. Bright side: Kavadas continues to be a rising star, and Ceddanne Rafaela stole his 30th base of the season.

Greenville: W, 6-5 (BOX SCORE)

Roman Anthony has been absolutely raking since being called up. The 19-year-old outfielder has fit in just fine batting leadoff in High-A, as he drove two runs in today and drew a walk. Blaze Jordan knocked an RBI, his 47th of the season. Despite what is probably Angel Bastardo’s worst start of the season so far, and the Drive grounding into three double plays in this one, Blaze Jordan tied the game up in the sixth inning with a solo shot to left center, his tenth of the season, and Bryan Gonzalez drove Anthony along with Karson Simas in in the ninth in a walkoff win for Greenville against the Grasshoppers (Pirates High-A.)

Salem: W, 10-4 (BOX SCORE)

Thanks to a strong 4-run 5th inning, the Salem Red Sox joined the “our starting pitching was kind of shot today, but our bats overcame it” club. Salem was also the beneficiary of three Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles A) defensive errors, a long way from Salem being the team to commit the errors at the beginning of the season. Lyonell James and Luis Ravelo, both infielders, continue to impress at the plate, both securing RBI’s and recording two hits in this game.

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Have a happy Monday, and happy Juneteenth, everyone.