4/23 MiLB Gameday: Couch looking to keep SeaDogs streaking

[Cuzittt]

Today's Games:

IL:Pawtucket (Allen Webster) vs. Rochester (Alex Meyer) [6:15 pm]
EL: Portland (Keith Couch) @ Binghamton (Greg Peavey)[6:35pm]
CL:Salem (Corey Littrell) vs. Lynchburg (Jarrett Miller) [7:05pm]
SAL: Greenville (Jamie Callahan) vs. Asheville (Zach Jemiola) [4:05pm]
NYPL: Lowell - Opening Day - June 13th vs. Vermont
GCL: GCL Sox - Opening Day - June 20th vs GCL Twins
DSL: DSL Sox - Opening Day - May 31st

Notes:

Will Middlebrooks expected to continue his rehab with the Pawsox.

Mookie Betts has reached safely in 45 consecutive games.


Scoreboard:

Boston Red Sox Minor League Scores

Media:

MiLB TV
MiLB Radio

Local Media:

Pawsox:

Providence Journal
Pawtucket Times

Seadogs: Portland Press Herald

Salem: Roanoke Times

Greenville: Greenville Online

Lowell: Lowell Sun

 

[Cuzittt]

Portland postponed due to unplayable weather conditions. Although unsaid, I think it was due to wind and wind chill.

 

[Cuzittt]

Drive shutout the Tourists, 6-0.

Boxscore

Jamie Callahan went 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks and a WP; striking out 3. Jacob Dahlstrand went 4 innings, giving up a hit and a walk; striking out 3.

Carlos Asuaje went 3/4 with a double and a triple. Jimmy Rider went 2/4 with 2 doubles. Jake Romanski went 2/4 with a double and a SB. Wendell Rijo went 2/4 with a double. Bo Greenwell went 1/4 with a double. Tzu-Wei Lin went 1/4 with a SB. Jantzen Witte went 0/3 with a walk. Kevin Mager and Manuel Margot each went 0/4.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Asuaje is making a case to be the first promotion of the season. Not necessarily a prospect but certainly not blocked by anyone in Salem.

 

[Cuzittt]

Pawsox score 3 in the 8th and pull out a 3-1 victory.

Boxscore

Allen Webster went 6 1/3 innings, allowing a run on 5 hits and a walk; striking out 5. Wilfredo Boscan went 1 2/3 innings, walking 2 and throwing a WP; striking out 3. Chris Resop went an inning, giving up 2 hits and striking out 2.

Ryan Lavarnway went 2/4. Bryce Brentz and Brandon Snyder each went 1/3 with a walk. Dan Butler went 1/4. Garin Cecchini went 1/1 with a double after replacing Will Middlebrooks who went 0/3 with 3 Ks. Ryan Roberts went 0/2 with 2 walks. Mike McCoy went 0/2 with a walk. Alex Hassan went 0/3 with a walk. Corey Brown went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

Salem wins 4-2.

Boxscore

Corey Littrell went 5 innings, allowing a run on 4 hits, 2 walks and a HBP; striking out 4. Austin Maddox went 2 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out one. Madison Younginer went an inning, walking one. Dayan Diaz went an inning, allowing a run on 2 hits (1 HR); striking out one.

Reed Gragnani went 2/3 with a walk. Matty Johnson went 1/3 with a walk and a SB. Ryan Dent, David Chester, and Aneury Tavarez each went 1/4; Tavarez and Chester each with a HR, Dent with a double. Carson Blair went 0/3 with a walk. Jonathan Roof and Kevin Heller each went 0/4.

 

[Cuzittt]

STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Garin Cecchini's two-run double highlighted a three-run bottom of the eighth inning for Pawtucket that spoiled a great pitching performance from Rochester's Alex Meyer and the PawSox earned a 3-1 win over the Red Wings Wednesday night in front of 2,303 fans at McCoy Stadium.

Will Middlebrooks continued his MLB rehab assignment with Pawtucket and played the first seven innings at third base, batting 0-for-3 with three strikeouts on the night. Middlebrooks is now 0-for-6 with five punchouts in two games this week.

After being shutout on three hits through seven innings, the PawSox (12-9) scored three times in the eighth against relievers Ryan Pressly (0-1), Edgar Ibbara and Matt Guerrier. Allen Webster, Wilfredo Boscan (2-0) and Chris Resop combined to limit Rochester (10-9) to only one run and seven hits on the night.

Each starting pitcher threw a dominating outing, with Allen Webster barely getting out-pitched by Meyer. Webster tossed a Pawtucket season-high 6.1 innings and allowed only one run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Meyer lasted 6.2 frames and allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out 11.

Rochester took a 1-0 lead in the seventh when Eric Fryer's sacrifice fly against Boscan drove home pinch-runner Chris Rahl. Webster had walked Brad Nelson to open the frame. Rochester's Pressly later allowed back-to-back one-out walks in the eighth to Alex Hassan and Ryan Roberts and was pulled in favor of Ibarra.

SALEM

Game Story

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The home fans in Salem have gotten only two opportunities to see Aneury Tavarez in the Red Sox lineup. So far, they have to like what he’s shown them.

Back off the disabled list after missing most of the first homestand, Tavarez smacked a tie-breaking two-run homer to lead the Sox to a 4-2 victory over Lynchburg on Wednesday in front of 1,524 at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

“He’s not a big guy, but he’s strong,” said pitcher Corey Littrell, who earned his first professional victory with five solid innings. “He’s got muscles. He’s got power. He swings the bat really hard. It goes a long way when he gets ahold of it. He’s awesome in the outfield, too. You’ve got to love those guys that’ll run down anything for you.”

HEALED HAMMY: Running was a problem for the 5-foot-9, 175-pound Tavarez after he tweaked his hamstring in Salem’s April 8 home opener — a game in which he went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle.

He didn’t return to action until Saturday’s game at Winston-Salem. He looked plenty healthy Wednesday, belting a fastball from Jarrett Miller deep over the wall in right-center to snap a 1-1 tie.

WELL DESERVED: Littrell (1-1) allowed one run on four hits to lower his ERA to 2.08. Seeing a “W” next to his name was a welcome change for the Kentucky alum, who went 0-3 despite a 1.74 ERA at Lowell last season and pitched well enough to win each of his first three Carolina League starts but got minimal run support.

“It’s a good feeling,” said Littrell, who fanned four. “It definitely wasn’t my best outing of the year, by far, but that’s just how baseball is sometimes … Last year I was on a strict pitch count, so I went four innings at the most. I couldn’t get a chance for a win — just a chance for a loss.”

DRIVE

Game Story

Greenville Drive infielder Carlos Asuaje acknowledges that a triple requires the favor of chance.

The ball must be placed perfectly in the gap and far enough between fielders to induce a chase to the wall. Few batters can repeat that feat on command.

Yet, Asuaje has employed a few adjustments to ensure he is prepared to capitalize when the chance appears.

“I took a long time getting out of the box before,” Asuaje said. “This year, in spring training, I worked to speed that up. Last year, I hit a lot of doubles. This year, I’m getting more triples because of that. It was definitely an adjustment I had to make.”

Asuaje leads the South Atlantic League with five triples -- through merely 17 games. He recorded his fifth Wednesday as he led the Drive to a 6-0 win against the Asheville Tourists at Fluor Field.

Asuaje batted 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. He also notched a double, one of seven multi-base hits the Drive (10-7) tallied Wednesday.

Asuaje leads Greenville with 13 RBI. He has managed a team-high batting average of .396. He has amassed 11 multi-base hits.

“Sticking with my own approach has helped a lot,” Asuaje said. “This ball park in particular has a lot of big gaps for lefties. If you put it in the gap, you have a lot of room to run. I’ve been fortunate enough to play at a ball park that has that. It involves some luck and some good hops for you.”

Asuage is positioned to shatter the Drive record of nine triples in a season, last set by Jeremy Hazelbaker in 2010.

“He’s hitting the ball hard to the right spot of the field,” Greenville manager Darren Fenster said. “A triple is not an easy hit to get, just because you’ve got to get outfielders to go a long way for them, and you’ve got to be able to run a little bit.

“He’s not a power hitter by any means, but he’s able to impact the baseball. He’s got what I call gap power. He puts himself in a good position to get a handful of doubles and a handful of triples, as we’ve seen here early on.”

Greenville starter Jamie Callahan earned his first win of the season. He pitched five innings, allowed four hits and struck out three batters. Reliever Jacob Dahlstrand earned his first save of the season. He allowed merely one hit through four innings.