Cup of Coffee: Mayer walks off New Hampshire; Kavadas knocks two homers
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Worcester was down 3-2 headed into the bottom of the sixth but burst out for 10 runs over its final three at-bats to take a convincing win over Durham ahead of a doubleheader on Saturday. Niko Kavadas had a big day, going 3 for 3 with a pair of two-run home runs that bookended the scoring. The game-winning run came off the bat of Jamie Westbrook, who drilled a three-run shot in the sixth as part of a three-homer day for the WooSox. He matched Kavadas' four RBI with a 2-for-2 night, while Chase Meidroth also had two hits. Three of Durham's runs were charged to starter Grant Gambrell, who went five innings. He allowed four hits and one walk but struck out five. Jorge Benitez, who handled the eighth, was the only Worcester arm to not allow a run.
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Marcelo Mayer was the hero, walking off the contest with a single to plate Nick Decker. He was 3 for 5 in a game where base knocks were hard to come by, with just 12 hits between the two teams. Kyle Teel also hit a solo home run in the third inning, while Blaze Jordan had the final Portland RBI. Brendan Celluci was the most impressive arm, as he threw three innings of shutout relief with just one hit and four strikeouts. He followed starter Helcris Olivarez, who struggled with command. He walked five over his four-inning stint, allowing both New Hampshire runs to cross the plate. Robert Kwiatkowski also had a clean ninth inning, with one punchout.
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The Drive scored three runs in the eighth, but it was too little, too late as Wilmington had already opened a five-run lead that was too steep to overcome. Tyler Miller was the only member of the Drive with more than one hit, as he and Juan Chacon each doubled. The bulk of the pitching duties were taken on by Connelly Early and Nathan Landry. The former surrendered two runs over 3 2/3 innings of work, while the latter coughed up a trio in a 3 1/3-inning outing. They did combine for 11 strikeouts, however.
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A foul out to the catcher halted Salem's comeback effort with the tying run on second and the winning run on first. The Red Sox scored the game's first run, but were unable to finish the job after scoring one in the eighth and another in the ninth. Andy Lugo, Juan Montero and Antonio Anderson each had two hits out of eight total knocks for Salem. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz struck out nine in four innings of work, allowing two runs on just one hit, but four walks. Jojo Ingrassia pitched two shutout innings of relief.
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Player of the Day: There was quite a two-horse race between Marcelo Mayer and Niko Kavadas, but the walk-off takes the cake. Mayer has had a torrid start to the season for Portland with a .366 batting average and an OPS near .900. Now he can add walk-off winner to his resume. The No. 2 prospect is part of a deep Portland lineup and has been showing off his offensive prowess, despite a tough hitting environment in Maine to begin the year. Now that he's fully healthy, he can resume his path toward being an above-average regular and pushing his way to the big leagues as soon as the middle of next year.
Photo Credit: Marcelo Mayer by Kelly O'Connor