Minor Lines 9/3/23: David Hamilton Continues Big Weekend

Worcester: W, 5-4 (BOX SCORE)

Brian Van Belle has often gotten some good run support in starts since being promoted to Worcester, but he didn’t need it against the Norfolk Tides (Orioles AAA). He went 5 ¹⁄₃ and allowed two runs, both in the first inning via a home run, while giving up five hits and three walks, striking out three. Luckily, he did get some of that necessary support from a Ronaldo Hernandez double to score two, and one of those two, David Hamilton, also hit a line drive single to score Christian Koss. Hamilton would seal the deal in the 7th with a home run, his seventeenth of the season and second of the weekend. Far be it from me to suggest Hamilton is anything more than a depth piece currently (even given my excitement for him prior to his call-up earlier in the season) as I’d take Enmanuel Valdez and certainly Ceddanne Rafaela over him on Boston’s roster, but Hamilton has looked pretty impressive in Worcester as of late. Despite three fielding errors (two from Koss) and a late-game rally allowed by recent call-up Ryan Fernandez and Nick Robertson, the WooSox held on for the one-run win.

Portland: W, 8-3 (BOX SCORE)

Portland was the one team on the farm to have a win pretty securely in the bag early in the series finale against the Somerset Patriots (Yankees AA.) The Sea Dogs struck with three runs in the second to make the game 3-1. That second inning featured the only Portland home run in the game, by catcher Nathan Hickey, who’s been very productive this year among something of a organizational logjam. Nick Yorke would make the game 4-1 with a smooth double in the third, and some further questionable pitching (wild pitch in the fourth, etc.) and a three-run fifth would put this game out of reach for Somerset and into the W column for Portland, who improve to a very respectable 68-58.

Greenville: W, 9-8 (BOX SCORE)

This was a back-and-forth game against the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets High-A) but the Drive gutted it out and came out on top to get back to .500 (63-63.) Though his outing started with a hit batter, Noah Song looked solid early on, allowing two hits in his first four innings and striking out six Cyclones. But two fifth-run home runs would seal his fate 78 pitches in and made his line look a bit more pedestrian. For those curious, his fastball was hitting 91-93, and his slider 80-84. Take a look at this strikeout:

Although the pitching was not ovetly impressive, the bats made up for it. Plagued by Ks the entire season thus far, the Drive struck out just 3 times and eight men recorded a hit, including Nick Decker who had a clutch home run in the sixth. Kyle Decker continued to be effective at the plate in Greenville following his speedy call-up to High-A, and a big line drive by Eddinson Paulino in the 8th to scored two.

Salem: W, 5-2 (BOX SCORE)

Salem continued to strikeout, but thanks to an extremely productive performance by their pitching staff, they did enough to edge this one out against the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves A.) 2023 fifth-round pick Connelly Early got this thing off to an... EARLY good start (I’m logging out now), Frank German did what he does best recording some K’s, and Jedixson Paez took the bulk of this game, striking out six more GreenJackets. Jhonstynxon Garcia continues to impress down in Salem, recording two hits, and catching prospect Enderso Lira, who DH’d today, chipped in a two-out, two-RBI single that sealed this game’s fate.

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Good to see all five teams get a win on Sunday! Happy Labor Day to all.