Worcester: W, 6-3 (BOX SCORE)
The WooSox did not have an ordinary assignment today. The opposing pitcher on the mound was a guy you may have heard of named Max Scherzer, a bonafide hall-of-famer in the twilight of his career on a rehab assignment for Buffalo (Blue Jays AAA) from forearm tendonitis and ankle inflammation. The 41-year-old was not expected to be 100% yet, but this is Mad Max we’re talking about. He’s still got the stuff, striking out five with that tricky slider. But Scherzer only made it into the fourth. When he did get hit, the hits came in waves, and he allowed three extra-base hits in that time including a Matt Lloyd home run to make it a 3-1 lead for the WooSox and it only got better from there. The WooSox had a rehab appearance of their own mound; Patrick Sandoval started the game allowing Raymond Burgos to be the bulk guy. Winning on a night a top contemporary pitcher starts the game is a great accomplishment.
And hopefully it doesn’t come to this, but next man up, should it come to that for any reason, is looking like it could be Tsung-Che Cheng. The 24-year-old has defensive versatility, is a speed demon on the basepaths, can be slotted into second, third, or short, and makes contact. This was all evident in limited action during the WBC this spring. And on Friday, he had a statement two-RBI single against Scherzer and another RBI knock when the lead needed protecting in the eighth. So many of these hits have came from the bat of Cheng on the year. It’s easy to see there’s so many infielders with similar versatility ahead of Cheng, but he’s using an option year anyway and so if the Red Sox need to burn another infielder due to (insert any circumstance here) then there’s worse calls to make.
Portland: L, 7-8 (BOX SCORE)
Coming out of relief, Dalton Rogers pitched a hitless four innings against the Yard Goats (Rockies AA) and now stands at just three earned runs in 23 innings of work since being promoted to the double-A squad after his first appearance in Greenville back in April. The rest of the pitching staff got touched up, though, getting saddled with a six-run ninth inning to steal defeat from the depths of victory. The offense had an explosive inning of their own, though, or else Hartford would have run away with it. That seven-run sixth was the only inning in which Portland scored. It included a grand slam by Abhram Liendo. In the following inning, Caden Rose started the inning off wih a triple, and Portland’s winning percentage expected was north of 98 percent. Sadly, finishing the game out on top wasn’t to be.
Greenville: L, 0-1 (BOX SCORE)
In this 0-0 game where Rome (Braves High-A) walked off Greenville with the first run of the game, you really have to tip your hat to both pitching staffs. Jojo Ingrassia was no slouch and Joe Vogatsky recovered nicely from his mess of a relief appearance earlier in the week. But, you can’t compete with 1 run allowed unless you also score a run, and Greenville stranded ten, struck out sixteen times and went hitless in seven attempts to bring in runners in scoring position.
Salem: L, 7-11 (F/11) (BOX SCORE)
Going 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position in a close game, is, of course, not a way to win the game, but the RidgeYaks got to the Warbirds (Brewers A) for a lot of runs despite the team getting four hits on the night. In the end, though, it was, in part, Salem’s propensity for giving up walks (eleven) caught up with them, as they started the inning with one and ended up getting walked off with a grand slam.
Have a steaming hot Saturday. And, as always, expletive the Yankees.
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