Worcester Red Sox 10, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 8 (12 inn.) – BOX
The Woo Sox got a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning, which gave a position player the win as a pitcher on Thursday night over the RailRiders (NYY). Other than that, things were pretty uneventful.
Worcester had two-hit efforts from Nick Sogard, Anthony Seigler, and Allan Castro, Thursday night’s hero. Seigler homered in the 4th. Castro’s two-run shot in the 12th walked it off.
Catcher/First baseman Nathan Hickey got the win after pitching the top of the 12th. Hickey has actually pitched in four games this season, allowing just one run in 3 ⅓ innings over those appearances. He spoke in the postgame about it being his first win as a pitcher since high school.
Seth Martinez got the start, allowing three runs in two innings, giving way to a slew of relievers, which the Woo Sox eventually ran out of. Braiden Ward had two walks and two stolen bases, his 15th and 16th of the season.
Worcester has not announced a starter for the 6:05 ET game this evening.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4, Portland Sea Dogs 2 (Game 1) – BOX
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7, Portland Sea Dogs 5 (Game 2, 10 inns.) – BOX
The Sea Dogs played a doubleheader against the Fisher Cats (TOR), after a Wednesday rainout. For two years running now, Dean Roussel has a voodoo doll on me, where the Wednesday games get rained out, leaving me with an extra game on the Thursday write-ups. I won’t forget this, Dean.
In Game One, the bats were cold for Portland, with both runs coming in the bottom of the ninth, neither of which was credited with an RBI. Marvin Alcantara and Brooks Brannon had two hits apiece.
Blake Wehunt got the start, allowing three runs in three innings. He’s now 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA at Double-A. Max Carlson kept things in check, throwing the final four innings, without allowing an earned run.
In Game Two, much like Worcester, the game went to three extra innings. With the doubleheaders being scheduled for two seven-inning bouts, this one went into ten, with the Sea Dogs coming up short.
Center fielder Will Turner put Portland on the board in the first, with a two-run homer. Franklin Arias, Ronald Rosario, and Max Ferguson each had two hits on the day. Portland tied the game in both the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings, thanks to an RBI single by Miguel Bleis in the eighth and a FisherCats throwing error on a bunt in the ninth.
Caleb Bolden struck out eight over 3 ⅓ innings, allowing just one earned run. In fact, only three of the seven runs allowed by Sea Dogs pitchers were earned, thanks to all of the unearned runs scored by the designated runner in extras.
The Sea Dogs starter is TBD at 6:00 tonight.
Greenville Drive 6, Greensboro Grasshoppers 4 (BOX)
The Drive hitters were raking on Thursday, totaling 16 hits on the day in the 6-4 win over the Grasshoppers (PIT). As seen in the box score above, basically the entire team had two hits.
Things got started early (as early as possible) with Justin Gonzales homering on the first pitch of the game, his fifth.
Henry Godbout was up next. He also went deep.
As Tyler points out, Godbout’s power has arrived this year. A second-round pick a year ago, that was his fifth home run of the season. Fangraphs rates Godbout to have a 30-grade “present” power and 40-future, but with five doubles and five bombs in 22 games, that may be changing quickly. His slash line is .281/.390/.506 on the year with a 135 wRC+.
Brandon Neely was the bulk guy on the mound in this one, gaining a win that he wasn’t particularly deserving of, allowing five hits and three runs in 3 ⅔. Matt McShane got the save.
Neither team has announced a starter for tonight, at 7:00.
Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Salem RidgeYaks 2 (BOX)
Christian Doutch got the start and allowed three runs (two earned) in 3 ⅓ innings and the RidgeYaks were barely able to muster anything offensively. They ended up with five hits, with Skylar King’s single in the first being the lone RBI, and Delmarva (BAL) won 6-2.
Barrett Morgan (1-0, 0.96) gets the ball on Friday at 6:35.
