Jimenez powers Sea Dogs to victory

4/19 Cup of Coffee:

Another night, another victory for Pawtucket, which downed Lehigh Valley 5-2 at McCoy Stadium. Marcus McBeth went the first two frames and was charged with 1 earned run despite giving up no hits and only 1 walk, striking out 2. Jose Vaquedano (1-1) relieved McBeth in the third inning, allowing the base runner he inherited to score but then proceeding to throw 3.0 shutout innings to earn the win. Rocky Cherry and Fernando Cabrera held the Iron Pigs scoreless for the next 3.0 innings, before Daniel Bard gave up his first run of the season in the ninth on a home run to Lehigh Valley's Jeremy Slayden. Carlos Maldonado entered the game in the top of the third inning replacing Dusty Brown and went 2 for 2 with a run scored. Chip Ambres and Jeff Natale each had 2 hits and drove in 2, while Ivan Ochoa went 1 for 3 with 2 stolen bases.

Portland exploded offensively, collected 18 hits and scoring 12 runs in a 12-4 rout of Binghamton. Felix Doubront (1-0) started and picked up the win, pitching 5.0 innings giving up 2 earned runs on 5 hits and 4 walks, striking out 4. William Latimer struggled a bit in his first appearance of 2009, giving up 3 hits and 4 walks in 2.0 innings, but held the Mets to 2 runs (only 1 earned). Bryce Cox finished the game with 2.0 scoreless innings. Six Sea Dogs had multiple-hit games, including Jorge Jimenez, who went 4 for 5 with a home run, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Lars Anderson continued to swing a hot bat, going 4 for 6 to raise his line on the year to .310/.348/.452. Aaron Bates, Josh Reddick, Iggy Suarez, and Mark Wagner each had 2 hits.

Salem kept the Sox affiliates roll going, beating Frederick 7-4 on the road. Seth Garrison got the start for the Red Sox and fired 5.0 innings giving up 2 runs, only 1 earned, on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 2. Ryne Miller (2-0) picked up where Garrison left off, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings to earn the win. Jason Rice gave up 2 earned runs in his inning of work to make it a save situation for Jason Blackley, who put the Keys on ice with a scoreless ninth to record his third save of the season. Mike Jones was the hitting star for Salem, going 3 for 3 with a solo home run and 2 runs scored. He is now hitting .353/.421/.441 on the year. Second baseman Aaron Reza went 2 for 4 with an RBI, while Zak Farkes drove in 3 with a long two-out blast in the eighth that provided the winning runs for Salem.

Greenville couldn't quite recover from a 4-run top of the second, falling 4-3 to visiting Greensboro. Yeiper Castillo made the start and went 3.0 innings, giving up said runs on 4 hits and a walk. Armando Zerpa extended his season-opening scoreless streak to 9.0 innings, firing 3.0 frames while striking out 5. Mitch Herold struck out 4 of his own in his 2.0 scoreless innings of work, and Felix Ventura finished the game with a scoreless ninth. Anthony Rizzo, once again hitting third for the Drive, had a nice day at the dish, going 2 for 5 with 2 doubles and a run scored. Ryan Lavarnway, getting the start at catcher, went 1 for 3 with an RBI, while David Marks went 1 for 3, driving in 2 with a home run in the fifth.

Player of the Night: Jorge Jimenez, who went 4 for 5 with a home run, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He is now hitting .424/.486/.636 with 11 RBI in 2009.

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