Second baseman David Hamilton, acquired in the trade that sent Jackie Bradley Jr. back to the Boston Red Sox and Hunter Renfroe to the Brewers, had quite the debut for the Portland Sea Dogs at the leadoff spot Friday night.
Double-A Portland went on to beat the Fisher Cats 11-6 to open the season.
Hamilton, 24, led off the bottom of the first with a triple, before making it 6-1 with a two-run homer in the second inning. He then drove home another with an RBI single in the third, and he made it an 11-1 ballgame with a grand slam for his seventh RBI of the night in just the fourth inning, and he’d finish his incredible day 4-for-5.
In an eventful day for Portland’s offense, Christian Koss, Kole Cottam, Tyreque Reed, and Tyler Dearden all had two-hit days in the Opening Day effort.
Chris Murphy let up two hits on one run (a solo blast that led off the ballgame) though he lasted just four innings. He also notched seven strikeouts but walked three.
WooSox start the season off strong
The WooSox are off to a 3-1 start on the season, as Franchy Cordero blasted a grand slam to go along with the home runs of Jeter Downs and Johan Mieses in Worcester’s 8-4 win Friday night over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
While he didn’t play Friday night (rest), he’s had a phenomenal start to his season. That’s Ryan Fitzgerald, who hit four homers through 11 Red Sox Grapefruit League games. Across just three games with Triple-A Worcester this season, the infielder has hit three homers and has gone 7-for-11 (.636) at the plate, which includes a 2.122 OPS.
Fitzgerald played mainly for Double-A Portland last season but was called up to Triple-A toward the end of the season.
On the Opening Day of Worcester’s season, Darwinzon Hernandez hurled two scoreless innings but let up two consecutive two-out walks before being relieved before he got his ninth out. On Wednesday, Thomas Pannone tossed a five-run (four earned) outing letting up eight hits during his 4.2 innings of work, while Thursday Connor Seabold yielded two runs on four hits and two walks over 3 2/3.
Josh Winckowski tossed the best outing the Worcester pitching staff has seen so far Friday with a five-inning outing that saw just three hits and two runs (one earned) being let up.
Top prospects Jarren Duran and Triston Casas haven’t played to any notoriety yet this season, as Casas has a homer but is just 3-for-16 (.188) through all four games while Duran has played half of that mark while going 3-for-8 (.375).
High-A Greenville sneaks by Renegades in season opener
The Greenville Drive snuck by the Hudson Valley Renegades in their season opener 7-6 Friday night.
Top prospect Nick Yorke had an RBI double in his first at-bat, Ceddanne Rafaela went 2-for-5 with a homer, Gilberto Jimenez went 3-for-4 with a walk, and Matthew Lugo had a three-hit night along with Alex Binelas who also had a two-hit night.
Single-A Salem falls to the rain
In his first at-bat not in rookie ball, Marcelo Mayer lined an RBI double down the left-field line.
That’s all that happened Friday night for the Salem Red Sox, as they were shut down in the top of the second inning due to the rain. They never resumed the action.
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