Cup of Coffee: Tolle takes the mound for Portland, Worcester comeback falls short

7/20 Cup of Coffee: It was a tough night across the Boston affiliates, with one total win along with a game suspended in the top of the second. Among the games that were completed on Saturday, a late-inning comeback was not enough in Worcester, Payton Tolle took the mound for Portland, and the Red Sox earned a comeback victory in the FCL. 

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A back-and-forth game saw the WooSox lead 4-2 after three innings before allowing six straight runs to trail 8-4 heading into the late innings. Worcester rallied in the bottom of the eighth to knot the score at 8-8 thanks to a two-run single by Nick Sogard and a pair of run-scoring base hits by Nathan Hickey and David Hamilton. After taking over on the mound in the top of the ninth, Isaiah Campbell allowed two runs in the top of the ninth to take the loss in the rollercoaster game. Isaac Coffey started for Worcester and struggled with four runs on seven hits, with three home runs in three innings charged to his pitching line. Jose De Leon pitched the following three innings, allowing two runs, and Jovani Moran followed with two frames of his own, with two runs charged to him. 

Every member of the WooSox starting nine recorded at least one hit, with Hamilton, Sogard, Blaze Jordan, Trayce Thompson, and Jhostynxon Garcia each registering multi-hit outings. Kristian Campbell and Nate Eaton each reached base twice with a hit and a walk while Eaton robbed a grand slam in the field in the top of the second inning. 

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A quiet night for the Portland offense, whch only mustered two hits from Mikey Romero and Ronald Rosario while going just 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. Payton Tolle took the mound for third start in Portland and continued to impress. While he allowed all three runs to score, only one of which was earned, the left-hander threw 42 of his 64 pitches for strikes while recording five strikeouts, allowing three hits and walking one in the losing effort. Tolle's ERA improves to an even 2.00 across 18 innings with the Sea Dogs, with 27 strikeouts to just four walks. 

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Following a lengthy rain delay prior to the start of the game, Greenville's defense was sloppy. Thanks to a pair of fielding errors, Blake Aita allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings, one of which was unearned. Following Aita, Danny Kirwin and Manuel Medina combined to toss the final 5 1/3 scoreless frames with two hits and a single walk total. Offensively, Greenville got its lone tally in the seventh on a single by Hudson White to plate Yophery Rodriguez.

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After a rough first inning from Yoelvin Chirinio, in which the right-hander surrendered a pair of runs on a hit and three walks, the Red Sox scored a run in the third and two more in the fifth to cap off the comeback victory. The Red Sox got their runs from Alexander Mambel, who singled home Avinson Pinto in the third, and Yan Cruz, who slugged a two-run home run in the fifth for the eventual winning runs. The home run was Cruz's second of the season. After a rough first frame, Chirino was replaced by Wuilliams Rodriguez, who picked up the win in relief after firing four scoreless innings with two hits, three walks and three strikeouts on his linescore. Jeison Payano pitched a hitless sixth and seventh with four strikeouts to earn his third save of the year. 

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Player of the Day: Although it was in a losing effort, Payton Tolle continued his impressive first season of professional baseball. While his line did not look pretty with three runs (one earned run) charged to his pitching line, Boston's second-round pick from last year's draft filled up the strike zone and still showed his swing-and-miss arsenal that has all of baseball buying stock in him. Tolle is currently the 3rd-ranked prospect at SoxProspects.