Cup of Coffee: Lugo walks it off in Greenville, Mayer adds to his RBI total

4/20 Cup of Coffee: It was a tough night for the Boston farm system, grabbing just one win over four levels on Saturday. Across the affiliates, Andy Lugo (pictured) walked it off in a come-from-behind victory for Greenville, Marcelo Mayer added to his strong week for Worcester, and Franklin Arias continued to hit in Salem.

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An afternoon after scoring 20 runs in a blowout victory, Worcester fell behind early and never managed to dig out of the hole. Making his first appearance in Worcester, Jack Anderson surrendered eight runs on 11 hits, three of which being home runs, in 1 2/3 innings of work. Bryan Mata, who has had a strong start to the season, followed Anderson by firing 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed an unearned run on three hits with a strikeout. Brendan Cellucci and Jacob Webb accounted for the final four innings, allowing three runs and walking five. 

Offensively, Worcester managed eight hits on the afternoon including multi-hit performances by Marcelo Mayer and Yasmani Grandal. The second of Mayer's hits driving in a pair on a double, giving the shortstop nine RBIs over the last two games. After slamming a pair of home runs last game, Roman Anthony added a 105.5 mph double to lead off the ballgame and added a walk in the defeat. While the WooSox had plenty of traffic on the basepaths, the team could only muster a single hit in 16 at-bats with runners in scoring position. 

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After taking the first two games in the series, Portland's struggles continued, losing its third straight and going quiet offensively. Ahbram Liendo singled and stole second base to begin the game and Ronald Rosario singled to right field to score the speedy shortstop to give Portland the early lead. The Sea Dogs' only other offense came off the bat of Tyler Miller, who ripped a solo home run to right field in the fourth inning. 

On the mound, David Sandlin struggled after putting together a pair of strong starts to begin the season. In four innings of work, the right-hander allowed four runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts added into the mix, throwing 47 of his 75 pitches for strikes. Following Sandlin, Jonathan Brand and Yovanny Cruz each tossed two scoreless frames, with Brand striking out four while Cruz retired two on strikes. 

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Greenville Drive 10, Winston-Salem Dash (CWS) 9 (12 innings)
After falling behind 7-0 through four-and-a-half innings, Greenville slowly chipped away, tying the game in the bottom of the eighth and again in the bottom of the 11th before Andy Lugo walked it off in the bottom of the 12th with a bases-loaded single. 

Juan Valera started on the mound for Greenville and struggled across 4 2/3 innings. The hard-throwing starter gave up seven runs on nine hits during the outing. Amid the tough appearance, Valera improved his control from previous starts by walking just one and striking out six. Jojo Ingrassia succeeded Valera and allowed the Drive to come back by shutting the door with 5 1/3 scoreless frames, allowing a single hit and single walk along with five strikeouts. 

Greenville got contributions throughout the lineup in the exhilarating win. Nazzan Zanetello broke out of a slump with a two-hit showing to go along with three RBIs. Right behind him, Nelly Taylor went 2 for 3 and walked three times to bring his early-season OPS to .994. Lugo, the eventual hero for Greenville, added three hits, including a game-tying home run in the eighth inning, while driving in a pair. 

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Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) 13, Salem Red Sox 4 
After taking an early 1-0 lead after an Andruw Musett run-scoring single in the third inning, Salem pitching surrendered eight straight runs and could not overcome the large deficit. Griffin Kilander started for the Red Sox and fired 3 1/3 scoreless frames while striking out five. Following Kilander, Austin Ehrlicher, Adam Bates, and Nicolas De La Cruz struggled to maintain the strong pitching, allowing 13 runs on 12 hits along with 8 walks over the final 5 1/3 innings.

Offensively, Starlyn Nunez led the way with a pair of hits to go along with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Franklin Arias also went 1 for 5, giving him hits in 13 of his first 14 games played this season while also boosting the 19-year-old's OPS to .890 across 58 plate appearances. 

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Player of the Day: In the lone victory across the farm system, Andy Lugo helped bring Greenville to extra innings with a game-tying home run and the eventual game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 12th. After getting a taste of the High-A level at the end of last season, Lugo has put together a .273/.313/.455 statline through 41 plate appearances.