Cup of Coffee: Teel and Anthony homer; Arias swipes four bases
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A strong game from Niko Kavadas was not enough to get Worcester past the IronPigs. Kavadas went 2 for 4 with a double and his 17th home run in the losing effort. He is now tied for 11th place in the International League home run chase. Matthew Lugo continued to acclimate to Triple-A as he went 2 for 3 with a walk, and Enmanuel Valdez went 2 for 5. Jason Alexander allowed two runs over five innings, with both coming via a solo home run. Ryan Zeferjahn took the loss after walking in the winning run in the ninth. It was his second walk of the inning, and he also hit a batter.
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The fab four at the top of Portland's lineup did their part, but the Sea Dogs could not dig out of an early hole. Kyle Teel was the star offensively, going 4 for 5 with a double and his ninth home run. Roman Anthony also homered but struck out three times as part of a 1-for-5 night. Marcelo Mayer went 2 for 5 with a double, and Kristian Campbell went 1 for 4 with a walk. The Sea Dogs outhit the Fightin Phils 12-to-6, but Reading's hits came in bunches to start the game. Jacob Webb allowed five runs on three homers while recording only two outs in the first inning. Jonathan Brand followed with 3 1/3 hitless innings, and Christopher Troye struck out two in two scoreless innings.
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Three pitchers combined to toss seven shutout innings as the Drive took game one. Starter Gabriel Jackson allowed one hit over the first three frames, and Cooper Adams followed and matched those numbers. Zach Fogell closed things out with two strikeouts in the seventh. Solo home runs from Mikey Romero and Jhostynxon Garcia paced the offense, and Allan Castro went 1 for 2 with a triple, walk, and a stolen base.
Greenville came back to tie the game late, but could not pull ahead in extra innings. Yordanny Monegro allowed only one hit but walked three while striking out two over four shutout innings. Jeremy Wu-Yelland allowed three runs in his only inning, and Adam Smith took the loss after allowing two runs in three innings. A triple from Garcia and doubles from Cutter Coffey and Eduardo Lopez accounted for the team's extra-base hits. Enderso Lira drove in two runs with a single in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
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Salem avoided disaster as they won on a walk-off single from Natanael Yuten. Salem entered the ninth with a four-run lead, but Fredericksburg got to Francis Hernandez for four runs on four hits in the top of the ninth. Yuten added two doubles, a steal, and a walk, and his single drove in Nelly Taylor who walked to lead off the inning. Andy Lugo went 3 for 4 with a double, steal, and three RBI. On the mound, Danny Kirwin tossed four shutout innings and notched seven strikeouts, which set a career-high.
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Franklin Arias did his best to carry the Red Sox to victory, but they fell just short. Arias was on base three times and stole four bases as his OPS rose to 1.055. He finished the day 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored, and his 30 steals now lead the system. Justin Riemer went 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI, and Starlyn Nunez went 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI but was also thrown out at third as the tying run in the bottom of the eighth. Chansol Lee did not make it out of the first inning in his second season appearance. Gilberto Batista and Cristofer Soriano combined to allow one run and strike out seven over the next 6 1/3 innings.
With the loss and wins by the Pirates and Rays, the Red Sox are now in a three-way tie for first place in the South division.
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Player of the Day: While the whispers of promotions have turned to shouts from the fans, Kyle Teel continues to take care of business in Double-A. The calls for him to go to Worcester will not get quieter after he went 4 for 5 with a double and a home run on Saturday. That brings the 22-year-old's line to .308/.393/.475 in 263 at-bats. He is just two points behind teammate Marcelo Mayer for the Eastern League lead in batting average, and he is fourth in OPS. Sunday marks the first anniversary since Teel officially signed with Boston out of the University of Virginia, and he has done nothing but hit since that day.
Photo Credit: Kyle Teel by Kelly O'Connor