Rizzo powers Salem to victory

4/12 Cup of Coffee: Pawtucket took a 3-2 lead into the top of the eighth at home against Rochester but couldn't close it out, relinquishing two runs in the frame and falling 4-3. The damage was done with two outs when Red Wings designated hitter Erik Lis hit a two-run home run off of Joe Nelson (0-1), who had recorded a pair of strikeouts wrapped around a walk earlier in the inning. The blown lead spoiled a good outing by Fabio Castro, who went the first 4.0 innings allowing only 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4. Chad Paronto and Fernando Cabrera also pitched well, each chipping in a scoreless frame. Josh Reddick was the offensive leader for the Red Sox, going 3 for 5 out of the leadoff spot with a double and an RBI. Designated hitter Mark Wagner supplied the club's other runs with a two-run home run in the fifth, his first of the season.

In a pitchers' duel turned see-saw affair, the Portland Sea Dogs dropped a close 6-4 decision to the Reading Phillies. The score stood 2-0 Reading after six, with Stephen Fife tossing 5.0 innings of two-run ball for Portland against the 6.0 scoreless innings of Reading's Yohan Flande, who allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks to Sea Dogs batters in his outing. But with Flande out of the game in the seventh, Portland finally woke up against replacement B. J. Rosenberg. Lars Anderson opened the frame with a long home run to right, his first of the year, and was followed by hits from Juan Apodaca and Jose Iglesias. Jason Place then launched a three-run bomb to left, giving the Sea Dogs a temporary 4-2 lead. But Reading would take it right back in the bottom half of the inning, as Tagg Bozied hit a two-out three-run home run off of Robert Coello (0-1). The Phillies would tack on one more in the eighth off of Jason Rice, and the Sea Dogs offense went down in order in the final two frames to seal the defeat. Despite the 4 runs, Portland managed only 5 hits in the game to Reading's 11.

In another back-and-forth battle, Salem salvaged the lone victory for Sox affiliates on Sunday, coming from behind to notch a 10-7 victory over Potomac. Balls were flying out of the yard right off the bat for the Red Sox, as Anthony Rizzo hit a solo shot with two outs in the first and Ryan Dent hit a three-run home run three batters later to stake Salem to a 4-0 lead. But the lead would not last. After a clean and easy first inning, Alex Wilson ran into a bit of ineffectiveness as the Nationals scored in each of the next three innings against him. A single run in the second and third innings brought Potomac back within two, and a three-run fourth inning summoned help from the pen. In all, Wilson went 3.2, allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4 in his Carolina League debut. After the Red Sox tied things up with a run in the fifth on Rizzo's second home run of the game, Wilson's replacement, Mike Lee, could not seal the flood gates, relinquishing 2 runs in the bottom half of the frame to make the score 7-5 in favor of the Nationals. But the Salem offense would not be deterred, reclaiming the lead in the sixth thanks to a bases-clearing triple off the bat of David Mailman that made it 8-7. RBI hits by Ryan Lavarnway and Oscar Tejeda provided two insurance runs for Blake Maxwell, who made things interesting by allowing 2 walks and a hit but kept Potomac off the board to earn the save. Rizzo and Lavarnway each tallied 4 hits in 5 at-bats, and Will Middlebrooks collected 3 hits of his own as the Salem offense collected 16 in all.

Wrapping things up in the South Atlantic League, Greenville ended up with sub-par results in the series finale against Delmarva, dropping a lopsided affair to the tune of 9-3. Roman Mendez (0-1) started this one for the Drive but got shelled, allowing 4 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in just 1.2 innings of work to take the loss. Pedro Perez relieved him in the second and at least stemmed the bleeding, going 4.1 innings allowing only 2 runs, but Greenville mustered only 5 hits in the first six innings in this one. After Dennis Neuman allowed another run in the top of the seventh, the Drive finally got on the board in the bottom half of the frame. Michael Almanzar led off the inning with his first home run of the season, and after two quick outs Michael Thomas reached base on an error. A Luis Segovia single came next, followed by a two-run triple by Jeremy Hazelbaker to give the Drive some hope. But Ken Roque struck out to end the frame, and the Greenville offense was held hitless the rest of the way.

Player of the Night: Anthony Rizzo, who went 4 for 5 with 2 solo home runs and 3 runs scored to power a come-from-behind Salem victory.

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