Shane Drohan went five shutout innings against the Mets, continuing his quietly strong season under the radar of any promotion talk amongst more enticing prospects. The bullpen further shut down Syracuse as it took them until the ninth to gather even one run or even their second runner in scoring position of the night. In hindsight, this game was finished rather quickly: Mikey Romero, who otherwise struck out three times on the night among the team’s 14, got his fifteenth home run (across Portland and Worcester) with just one recorded out in the second inning. Abraham Toro, a bit further down the lineup, would pitch in a 3-for-4 performance of his own.
With Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison and Peyton Tolle all up in Boston, Drohan, Tyler Uberstine, and Isaac Coffey remain the only viable starters that may see some big league playing time in 2026 as the roster stands now. Which, considering those promotions and the fact that guys like Richard Fitts and Tanner Houck (who probably won’t be back until late in 2026 if at all) exist as options too, is fine! The lack of true Triple-A depth may, though, preemptively explain some of these dumpster dives we’ll likely see Breslow make this winter. Just typing that out on a document before I get frustrated with those transactions!
Wednesday marked the second straight night Binghamton (Mets AA) walked Portland off. This time, it was via an eleventh inning sac fly given up by Jonathan Brand negating ten serviceable outs by Cooper Adams, albeit letting up a run on the Manfred runner had consequences. Hayden Mullins had one of his more vulnerable starts of 2025, getting stung for three runs in four innings. Although Portland enjoyed twelve hits on the night and only struck out six times in eleven innings, and six of those dozen hits came with runners in scoring positon, most of those only advanced a runner to third and they also stranded ten men, which signified a lack of power when power was needed. Even their lone home run of the night, a Tyler Miller solo shot, tied the score at 1 and still placed their expected winning percentage at 45%. Not an ugly game, but getting walked off never feels good.