Minor Lines 7/20/23: Late Inning Magic

Worcester: W, 10-8 (BOX SCORE)

It’s always good beating the RailRiders (Yankees AAA) in Scranton, but the win wasn’t pretty. Dinelson Lamet gave up 3 runs in a 4 ¹⁄₃ inning performance that seemed doomed from the start due to a home run given up to the second batter he faced. The game went back and forth in the early going, before the bottom of the lineup came through for Worcester. Ronaldo Hernandez hit a home run in the 8th inning, and Stephen Scott hit a 3-run home run in the 8th and 9th inning for six total RBIs. Scott’s OPS now sits at over 1 since being called up from Portland two months ago, joining Ceddanne Rafaela and Bobby Dalbec in that category. Just to clarify: that’s really, really, good, especially for a catcher. Scott’s late inning heroics saw Worcester contribute to a 7-run last two innings and erase the troubles Brendan Nail’s very poor performance brought. A 10-spot against the Yankees’ AAA staff is never something to frown upon!

Portland: L, 4-7 (BOX SCORE)

Another team saved by the bottom of the lineup’s 8th inning home run, but this time, the team didn’t play good enough to win. Matthew Lugo hit a 3-run shot off of the Fisher Cats (Blue Jays AA) to protect themselves from being shut out. Sterling Sharpe gave up 7 runs and 9 hits in his 3-inning performance, far from his best work. Nathan Hickey and Blaze Jordan both contributed multiple hits in addition to Lugo, but it was not enough to score in the first seven innings. The Sea Dogs’ bullpen, including a rehab performance from John Schreiber with no baserunners and two strikeouts, saved this from being a real bloodbath.

Greenville: RAINED OUT

The Drive will play a double header starting at 5 PM today against Asheville. This game was supposed to be in Asheville, but will be played in Greenville instead.

Salem: W, 6-3 (BOX SCORE)

The Salem Red Sox have the Down East Wood Ducks (Rangers A) defense to thank for this win, as Down East committed five errors. Salem can attribute most of their runs to poor fielding and wild pitches, but Mikey Romero and Lyonell James both recorded multiple hits and RBIs to boot. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the bottom of the lineup accounted for some late-inning magic to help Salem not only break the tie, but score 5 runs in this convincing win. The Red Sox also capitalized five times with runners in scoring position, and any time you do that, you put your team in a better situation to win.