Cup of Coffee: Garcia walks it off for Portland, Tolle takes the mound for Greenville

Cup of Coffee 5/11: It was a mixed bag of results across the Boston affiliates on Saturday. Jhostynxon Garcia (pictured) helped cap a comeback with a walk-off home run in Portland, Jeremy Wu-Yelland made his Doublet-A debut, and Payton Tolle toed the mound following his impressive 12-strikeout outing last week. 

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A relatively slow night for the WooSox offense led to the team's third straight loss, scattering five hits and a lone extra base hit across the contest. Blake Sabol led the way for Worcester with a pair of hits as well as driving in both runs.

On the mound Robert Stock took the loss after allowing four runs and six hits across 5 2/3 innings while adding six strikeouts. Zack Kelly took over for Stock in the sixth inning and continued to struggle with his command, walking four and allowing a run. Kelly has now walked 12 hitters across seven innings of work since being sent to Triple-A.

It was a walk-off win for Portland thanks to a pair of players high up in the SoxProspects.com rankings. Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, Mikey Romero doubled with two outs in the inning to set up the eventual game-tying RBI single off the bat of Ahbram Liendo, who has continued his strong start to the season. Following a scoreless top of the ninth by Jeremy Wu-Yelland and Reidis Sena, outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia sent a drive to right field for a walk-off home run. 

Amid the comeback victory, Wu-Yelland made his Double-A debut after earning a promotion from Greenville earlier in the week. Boston's fourth-round pick in 2020 tossed three innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. 

The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was cancelled due to inclement weather. Instead of a doubleheader, the first game of the day became a full nine-inning contest. 

It was a quiet night for the Greenville offense, whose offense consisted of a leadoff single by Franklin Arias in the top of the first and a leadoff walk by Nelly Taylor in the top of the fifth inning. Arias' single extended his hitting streak to five games and has raised his average since moving up to Greenville to .333. 

On the mound, Payton Tolle fired five innings of one-run ball while striking out five following his stellar 12-strikeout performance his last time out. Despite being charged with the loss, the left-hander has allowed a pair of runs while striking out 31 hitters over his last four outings.  

After taking a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning, Salem allowed seven straight runs and could not comeback to snap a three-game winning streak. Steven Brooks took the loss in his fifth start of the season, allowing three runs on a single hit with four walks and a strikeout. Karim Ayubi led the Salem offense with a pair of hits and a run scored. Justin Gonzales went 0 for 4 to drop his average to .133 since earning the promotion to Low-A. 

It was another tough outing for the Red Sox pitching staff, who surrendered more walks (7) than hits (6) in the ballgame. Although Red Sox pitching allowed 12 runs, four of which came of the unearned variety as the team committed five errors to remain winless on the young Complex League season. Yoelvin Chirino was tagged with the loss after he was charged for six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings to go along with two hits and three walks. 

Jorge Rodriguez paced the Red Sox offense, picking up his first two hits of the season in a 2-for-3 afternoon. Tavano Baker picked up his first home run of the year as he connected with the big fly after pinch hitting in the fifth inning, and D'Angelo Ortiz reached base twice and drove in a run. 

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Player of the Day: Jhostynxon Garcia has continued to put together strong at bats in his second taste of Portland after finishing last season with the Sea Dogs. The 13th-ranked prospect went 2 for 4 on Saturday with a walk-off home run to beat Chesapeake. In 114 plate appearances, the outfielder is slashing .287/.395/.426.