Cup of Coffee: Meidroth double short of cycle; Gonzalez 5 no-hit innings; DSL Red moves on in postseason
8/24 Cup of Coffee: It was an eventful day in the system, as the DSL Red Sox Red moved on to the Dominican Summer Leauge semifinals, while Worcester blew a lead but was able to win in extras on the back of an exceptional performance from the trio of Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Chase Meidroth (pictured). Salem was in a similar predicament, but Nazzan Zanetello delivered a victory for his squad. Wikelman Gonzalez had a bright spot in what's been a tough year, throwing five no-hit innings as Portland one-hit Somerset, while Greenville blanked Rome.
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Worcester had Norfolk down to its final hitter in the ninth, but old friend (ish) Jud Fabian doubled to tie the game at 4-4 and send it to extra innings. However, the Red Sox exploded for four in the 10th, punctuated by a deep home run by Roman Anthony and the Tides went quietly in the bottom half. He had one of four Worcester home runs, as Kristian Campbell knocked his first two Triple-A homers and Chase Meidroth, who was a double short of the cycle, opened the scoring with a solo shot in the first. The top of the lineup was key, as that trio had nine hits and seven RBI.
Rich Hill made his system debut (again) and had two no-hit innings with a walk and two strikeouts. He was followed by Brad Keller, who also didn't allow a run, contributing two innings of work, while Chase Shugart delivered a clean sixth and seventh.
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Hayden Mullins led the way for Greenville, pitching five scoreless innings of relief to help secure a shutout on Friday. He allowed just one hit, a double in the fifth, with six strikeouts against no walks. Max Carlson had two clean frames to end the game, while Tyler Uberstine surrendered just one hit across the first and second. Mikey Romero was 2 for 4 in the leadoff spot and knocked home the game-winning run in the fifth with a single up the middle. However, Bryan Gonzalez had the bigger game, as he was 3 for 4 with an RBI double and another two-bagger for good measure. They combined for five of their team's seven hits.
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The Red Sox gave up five runs over the final three innings and went into the bottom of the ninth tied 8-8, but Nazzan Zanetello played the hero, singling to secure a second consecutive undefeated day for the system. It was an offensive explosion for both sides, with a combined 28 hits. Salem had 13, led by three from Natanael Yuten, who doubled with the bases loaded in the eighth, putting his team up three as he cleared the bases. Andruw Mussett, Marvin Alcantara and Daniel McElveny each had multi-hit outings as well. The start went to Cole Tolbert and he handled the first three frames, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. He also struck out two. Matt Duffy followed in a bulk relief role and contributed five frames of work but gave up plenty of contact, as eight hits went on his ledger, which turned into three runs.
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Game 2, Dominican Summer League Quarterfinals
The Red Sox were the only team to sweep their best-of-three series, dominating the Guardians Goryl squad by a combined score of 27-8 over two games. They pounded out 17 hits and left no doubt, plating all 15 runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings after Goryl snagged a pair in the fourth to open the scoring. Justin Gonzalez was 5 for 6 with a double, which was one of just three extra-base hits. He was joined in the multi-hit club by Jorge Rodriguez (3 for 5), Alexander Mambel (2 for 5), Avinson Pinto (2 for 4) and Efren Teran (2 for 5). The Red Sox also worked 11 walks and had another batter hit by a pitch and had long, sustained rallies.
Madinson Frias pitched four innings and allowed just two hits and a walk, but a pair of runs came in on his ledger, as he struck out two. The win went to Jose Martinez, who also coughed up two knocks and recorded two more punchouts but didn't permit a run over his three frames. Enrique Carta finished it off with a clean ninth. There are three Game 3s on Saturday, then the best-of-three semifinals follow starting on Sunday.
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Player of the Day: There were plenty of solid candidates up and down the system, both on the mound and at the plate, but 4 for 5 with a triple and home run is a solid day's work, so the nod goes to Chase Meidroth. He got the scoring started early with a solo home run in the top of the first as the second batter of the game and kept it going from there, scoring a pair of runs and driving in two more. He has more gap power than over-the-fence power, but he was still able to be a big part of the offense, showing off his contact skills that help him slot in at No. 11 in the SoxProspects.com rankings.
Photo Credit: Chase Meidroth by Kelly O'Connor