Minor Lines 9/6/23: Chris Murphy Guts One Out In Relief

Worcester: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

Sometimes, it’s not about quantity, but quality... though it would be nice to have both. In this opener, luckily, the sure arm of Chris Murphy notched seven strikeouts in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, which was enough to hold the Gwinnett Stripers (Braves AAA) at bay. Newcomer Logan Gillaspie pitched an inning in relief, and six total pitchers eeked a win out despite not much Worcester offense.

All of Worcester’s offense came in the fifth inning, when Bradley Zimmer made the most of Narcisso Crook getting on base by hitting a home run and scoring them both. Later in the inning, Bobby Dalbec took advantage of David Hamilton’s 54th Triple-A stolen base of the season by hammering in his 72nd RBI. That was it from Worcester’s bats, but that’s all they needed. A flashy win, it certainly was not, but in this case, a win is a win.

Portland: L, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

I’ll get the worst news out of the way: Roman Anthony went hitless in his second game in Double-A, as Portland’s score was a mirror image of Worcester’s. After twi acceptable innings by Angel Bastardo, Fighting Phils pitcher and Phillies 2020 1st round pick Mick Abel allowed only one baserunner through five innings, before walking two, but Portland wasn’t able to score any runs out of that opportunity. Wyatt Olds, who came into the game with a 9+ ERA, made it through the sixth and seventh unscathed but the eighth inning was a different story, when he gave up what would be the winning run without recording an out.

Portland couldn’t score, and the game ended 3-2. Hmmm... bad bullpen decisions including leaving a reliever in too long, pulling a starter too early, and failing to capitalize on baserunners? This truly is a Boston affiliate! The good news: Kyle Teel had his second RBI hit in as many days. Small sample size, but he seems to be finding his bat in his new home up in Maine early as he skyrockets up the organizational ladder.

Greenville: L, 3-5 (BOX SCORE)

You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em. That’s what Kenny Rogers says, anyway, and Zach Penrod, who looked pretty exceptional last time out, looked quite hittable this time, going 3 .2 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out just three while walking four in Maryland against the Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles High-A.) The birds were held pretty quiet for the rest of the game, but the damage was done. The Drive managed just five hits and drew five walks in an effort that we hope doesn’t foreshadow the two Major League squads facing off this weekend... but let’s get real, what’s the correlation?

Salem: W, 8-3 (BOX SCORE)

While it’s exciting seeing Elvis Soto fan six Carolina Mudcats (Brewers A) and pretty cool seeing Frank German get decisions, even if it’s all the way down in A-ball, let’s talk about Jhonstynxon Garcia and Anderson Asigen. Asigen, who may be referred to as “Mr. Doubles” after Wednsday, hammered three of them out of the nine spot. Garcia, the leadoff man, was a formidable follow-up to Asigen cycling through the lineup, himself securing a triple and another single. Antonio Anderson and Natanael Yuten both got multiple hits as well as Salem cruised to a win. Pretty hard to lose when the team records a double hits and more than half come from a 3-batter block.

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Happy Thursday!