Minor Lines 8/31/23: Gambrell Looks Solid In Worcester Loss, Salem No Hit

When I go to pull up the schedules for the games to do Minor Lines, I type in the city and look for the link that starts with the number corresponding the month, in August’s case, “08.” How strange it is to be doing August for the last time and still initially typing July in the title bar of this very article despite now officially being in September. This month went by too quickly at times, but if you’re a Red Sox fan, perhaps not quick enough. Anyway, onto the last Minor Lines of August! Hope you didn’t miss me yesterday, but if you did, don’t fear, Greenville and Salem were rained out Wednesday so they both did double headers

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Worcester: L, 0-4 (BOX SCORE)

Grant Gambrell received the promotion some have been clamoring for, and his time up in Worcester has been pretty good so far! He did give up a home run Thursday against the Norfolk Tides (Orioles AAA), but overall you can’t be mad at a guy who just got promoted giving up two runs on five hits in five innings, especially while striking out nine, and definitely not when he looked even sharper than that at times. Gambrell started unraveling a bit in the fifth, but ultimately came out with his line looking pretty decent.

Unfortunately, Worcester couldn’t get the bats going at all, getting just three hits, all singles, two courtesy of Bobby Dalbec. Dalbec, for what it’s worth, had an absolute missle of an outfield assist to save another run (see below). But ultimately, as you’ll see with other teams last night, the absolute rule of baseball is: you can’t win a game when you score no runs. And, by the way, this is Worcester’s third loss in a row.

Portland: L, 2-5 (BOX SCORE)

Portland at least put some runs on the board against the Somerset Patriots (Yankees AA) but it also wasn’t enough given a questionable Angel Bastardo performance. Bastardo, also playing in his second game after being called up, gave up a game-defining home run shot and also allowed runs in four of his five innings. While Corey Rosier, a guy looking close to getting some time in Worcester, did well out of the leadoff spot, tripling, singling, stealing a base, and drawing a walk, the team went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. At least they didn’t commit five errors like they did Wednesday.

Greenville, Game 1: W, 1-0 (BOX SCORE)

If you can’t win a game when you don’t score runs, you can’t lose a game when you allow runs (guy touching temple meme here). The Drive, backed by six scoreless in a seven inning game by Zach Penrod, pulled a rabbit out of a hat against the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets High-A.) The deciding factor came all the way back in the first inning, when Roman Anthony hit a floater over the left field wall for a lead-off home run, but neither team knew how scarce goings would be offensively on both sides. Penrod allowed just two hits and struck out eight, including this off-speed beauty.

Greenville, Game 2: L, 4-7 (BOX SCORE)

Unfortunately, the second end of the double-header was kind of a stinker, but at least Greenville got some runs on the board. Allan Castro had three hits in a seven inning contest, driving in two, but it was not enough. By the way, Kyle Teel, who scored one of those aforementioned runs, is hitting almost .400 in a small sample size in High-A. Where will we see him in 2024?

Salem, Game 1: L, 1-0 (BOX SCORE)

To reference this obvious platitude again, when you score no runs, you’re not going to win. You’re definitely not going to win when you also get no hits. I know, seven innings, but the Greensboro Green Jackets (Braves A) combined to no-hit the Red Sox, who actually only combined for four strikeouts in this shortened game. Obviously, failing to capitalize off the four walks Greensboro gave up by not managing a hit is awful, no matter how decent Elvis Soto, who had his best outing since being called up from the Florida League, looked.

Salem, Game 2: L, 5-7 (BOX SCORE)

A lot of similarities between Greenville’s double-header and Salem’s. A 1-0 game followed by heavy offense. Try as relief pitcher Luis De La Rosa might to make this a winnable game (he struck out six in the final three frames) Salem didn’t have it today. By the way, Frank German is back, and he pitched an inning in this one. But none of that matters in this double-header loss, though it is nice to see Albert Feliz sending two over the fence for his ninth and tenth shots of the year.

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Happy Friday, everyone! For some reason, I have found myself in Kansas City for this Red Sox series, so let’s hope for some wins.