6/28 Cup of Coffee: It was a mixed bag of results across the Boston affiliates on Saturday, with plenty of highlights within. In Portland, the trio of Miguel Bleis (pictured), Franklin Arias, and Anthony Eyanson helped the Sea Dogs grab a comeback win. Luke Heyman starred in Greenville and Josue Brito continued to swing it in the Complex League.
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The WooSox started strong, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after two innings after Andrew Knizner doubled home a pair, Kristian Campbell drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Max Ferguson belted a two-run home run. After retiring the first six in a row, Jack Anderson ran into trouble in the fourth, allowing four of the six runs he surrendered on the mound. Anderson only pitched four innings and did not record an out in the fifth before being replaced. Tyler Samaniego pitched a scoreless fifth and Tyler Uberstine allowed six runs in a tough sixth inning. Eduardo Rivera allowed a run across two innings and Juan Montero took the mound in the ninth.
Worcester got one more run in the bottom of the ninth thanks to Mikey Romero‘s sixth home run of the year. Romero was a bright spot in the defeat as the third baseman homered, walked three times and scored twice.
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Anthony Eyanson took the mound on the road and looked impressive once again. The right-hander allowed a run over 5 2/3 innings, the longest outing of his professional career. He scattered three hits and three walks with two strikeouts, throwing just 39 of his 66 pitches for strikes.
Portland trailed 1-0 entering the eighth before the Sea Dogs scored three to take the lead. With Nelly Taylor on base after drawing a leadoff walk, Franklin Arias connected on a two-run homer, his 15th big fly of the season. The very next batter, Miguel Bleis homered for the third time over the last two contests. Portland added two more runs the following inning on an RBI fielder’s choice by Ahbram Liendo and a run-scoring single by Bleis. Bleis finished with three hits and two RBIs. Jedixson Paez earned the win with 2 1/3 innings in relief and Erik Rivera picked up his third save.
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While Luke Heyman led the charge offensively for Greenville, the Drive bullpen could not hold a late lead to preserve what would’ve been a comeback victory. Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the fourth, the Drive catcher slugged a solo home run, his sixth homer of the year to cut into the deficit. The home run came after Heyman drove in the Drive’s first run of the game in the bottom of the first on a single. One inning after his homer, he would add his third RBI of the evening on another run-scoring single to make it 5-3. Greenville took the lead after a three-run sixth thanks to a wild pitch that scored Yophery Rodriguez followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Antonio Anderson. The home run from Anderson was his third in as many games.
Ben Hansen was the star on the mound in the losing effort. After Alex Bouchard surrendered five runs (four earned runs) in 3 2/3, Hansen took the ball and held Asheville scoreless over the next 4 1/3 innings. He also struck out four hitters. Danny Kirwin took the ball in the ninth and allowed a tying two-run homer, followed by a pair of big flies in the extra inning.
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A back-and-forth game found Salem trailing into the late innings before a five-run seventh gave the RidgeYaks the lead for good. Louis Andujar was the star with an RBI double and a two-run single as part of the seventh inning rally. Andruw Musett added three hits himself, and Skylar King reached base three times with a hit and two walks. Christian Foutch held Myrtle Beach hitless over his three innings of work on the mound despite walking three batters. Adam Bates earned the win after pitching the sixth and seventh innings. Joey Gartrell pitched the ninth, struck out the side and earned his first save of the season.
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An offensive outburst by the FCL squad saw eight of the nine hitters in the lineup record at least one hit, with Josue Brito continuing his hot stretch in the complex. The outfielder went 2 for 3 with a pair of singles, a walk and two runs scored. He also swiped a pair of bases. Jhoan Peguero slugged his second home run of the season in the third to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. After Peguero’s homer, a two-run triple by Jhorman Bravo followed by a wild pitch gave them a 4-0 lead that would stand as the Red Sox pitching staff was stellar. Jeison Payano picked up the win in relief after Trennor O’Donnell tossed three scoreless in his rehab assignment. Payano pitched three frames of his own, allowing a run with two hits, a walk and two strikeouts. Yomar De La Rosa tossed a scoreless seventh to close out the win.
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It was a rough outing on the mound for Rinangel Mayora, who walked five on the way to seven runs (six earned runs) while only getting three outs in his first start of the year. The deficit was too much to come back from despite a four-run second inning by team Blue, as they trailed 7-4 after two frames. Luis Aular and Eber Miranda each had multi-hit outings with Aular mashing his first home run of the year. After Mayora, Pedro Meza, Juan Verdus and Angel Lopez each had scoreless appearances, and Michael Manjarres allowed an unearned run in 2 1/3 innings of work.
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Photo Credit: Miguel Bleis by Kelly O’Connor
