Cup of Coffee: Coffey fans nine for fourth time in five starts

9/4 Cup of Coffee: It was a quiet night in the minor leagues for the Sox, as Portland and Greenville were the only teams in action. The two squads combined for just one run, but Portland got some great pitching led by Isaac Coffey (pictured). 

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Isaac Coffey took the tough-luck loss in this one, as he allowed just two runs over six innings of work. He punched out nine and walked only one. The righty has no struck out at least nine hitters in four of his last five starts, tallying 46 strikeouts in 26 innings over that five-start span.  Jonathan Brand was also very good out of the bullpen with two shutout innings and just one hit allowed. Blaze Jordan and Jhostynxon Garcia combined for four of Portland's six knocks, as Jordan went 2 for 3 with his 19th double and Garcia went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles Alex Binelas and Philip Sikes each went 1 for 3. 

With the loss, the Sea Dogs' second half lead over Somerset in the Eastern League Northeast shrunk to 1 1/2 games. They are now 36-21 in the second half. 

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Blake Wehunt was great on the bump for the first four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth. He allowed three runs, all in that fifth inning, with five strikeouts and four walks. Zach Fogell was tremendous in relief with two scoreless innings and four strikeouts to just one walk. Adam Smith allowed one run in two innings as well. The Greenville bats had just five hits, all singles. Justin Reimer, Ronald Rosario, Nelly Taylor, and Bryan Gonzalez each went 1 for 4, while Will Turner went 1 for 3. 

 

At 34-26 for the second half, Greenville is in second place and trails Bowling Green by 5 1/2 games.

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Player of the Day: Isaac Coffey continued his sensational run since the month of August began. In five starts since then, he has posted a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings. He has gone at least five innings in all five starts. Overall, he has a 3.33 ERA in 23 games with 138 strikeouts in 108 innings pitched.