Minor Lines 7/6: Bombs And Batflips

Syracuse Mets 6, Worcester Red Sox 1

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With the exception of Enmanuel Valdez, the bats were nowhere to be found for the Woo Sox at home on Thursday night against Syracuse starter Jose Butto. Butto, who has been called up to make a couple of starts with the big-league club this season, came into the game with a 6.14 ERA for Syracuse. He cruised through 5 1/3, allowing five hits, three of which were to Valdez, and striking out six. Valdez has been terrorizing triple-A pitching since being sent down on June 10^th. In 13 games since that date, sandwiched around a 7-day IL stint, Valdez is 16-for-41 (.390) with 6 HR and 12 RBI.

Worcester starter Rio Gomez threw five solid innings, allowing just three baserunners but two of those were solo home runs. Gomez left trailing 2-1 before Chase Shugart opened the floodgates allowing four runs in the seventh inning, with the big blow being a three-run homer by Luke Ritter. Worcester falls to 43-40 and will send Norwith Gudino to the mound Friday against Syracuse.

Portland Sea Dogs 6, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 1

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Hunter Dobbins is the latest in a line of starting pitchers who have emerged as intriguing arms in the Red Sox system this summer. After his latest outing for the Sea Dogs on Thursday night, Dobbins now sports a 2.68 ERA between High-A and Double-A combined, alongside a 11:63 BB:K ratio. He allowed four hits and one run over 5 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts, matching a season high.

An Alex Binelas RBI double, followed by Corey Rosier and Tyler McDonough’s back-to-back homers in the second staked Dobbins with a 4-0 lead early. McDonough and Binelas caused further havoc in the sixth, executing a double steal with Binelas grabbing the plate. Matthew Lugo was 3-for-3 with an HBP, getting on base all four times. Portland improved to 47-31 and has not yet named a starter for Friday’s game vs Binghamton.

Greenville Drive 7, Rome Braves 6

Greenville won a wild, back-and-forth game 7-to-6 on Thursday over the Rome Braves. The game-winning home run came off the bat of Brainer Bonaci in the bottom of the eighth inning, his 8^th of the year complete with a preposterous bat flip.

The Drive entered the inning down 5-3, with Bonaci’s bomb immediately following a game-tying two-run single off the bat of Eddinson Paulino. All of this was part of a 14-hit onslaught from the Drive, with multi-hit games coming from Bonaci, Tyler Miller, Alex Erro, Nick Decker, and Bryan Gonzalez (3 hits).

Angel Bastardo threw six quality innings, allowing six baserunners, two runs and six strikeouts. His lead was blown by Jordan DiValerio, albeit with two of three runs being unearned, with DiValerio earning the win (4-2) and Alex Hoppe picking up his third save. Greenville improves to 42-36 and will send the infamous TBD to the hill Friday against Rome.

Salem Red Sox 10, Lynchburg Hillcats 7

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Salem scored early and often in this one, with a few late runs for Lynchburg making the score closer than it should have been. They pieced together four runs in the third with numerous hits, before an Albert Feliz home run in the fourth put Salem ahead 5-2. Feliz had a monster night, going 4-for-5, also adding a triple, three runs, and three RBI. Cutter Coffey’s fourth homer of the year in the eighth extended the lead to 9-3. Salem had 21 baserunners in the game, including 16 hits, with six of the hitters gathering multiple hits.

Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz got through four, with one earned and six K’s; not enough for the win but an ERA that stands at 2.63. The W went to Nathanael Cruz, who threw three sharp innings and now has a 2.11 ERA. Salem now stands at 36-39 with Jose Ramirez toeing the rubber on Friday at Lynchburg.