Doubront wins lefty showdown, Salem walks off with win

6/8 Cup of Coffee: With plenty of attention focused on the first night of the MLB draft, a battle of top lefthanders went Pawtucket's way, while a three run ninth gave Salem a walk off victory as they affiliates split Monday's games.

An excellent pitching matchup on paper, Felix Doubront out-dueled the heralded Aroldis Chapman as Pawtucket chased away the Louisville Bats (CIN) 7-2. The PawSox jumped out of the gates quickly, scoring two in the top of the first on an RBI single by Daniel Nava and a wild pitch that allowed Lars Anderson to scamper home. Extending the lead in the second, Tug Hulett hit a two-run home run to give Pawtucket a 4-0 advantage. Padding their lead in the third, Aaron Bates hit an RBI double, Ryan Kalish roped an RBI single and Hulett drew a bases loaded walk to give the PawSox a healthy advantage. Doubront was once again outstanding, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 5. Ramon A. Ramirez pitched 3.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 3 hits while punching out 4. Scott Atchison pitched a scoreless ninth inning to lock up the victory. Bates, Kalish and Niuman Romero were all 2 for 4 to lead the PawSox offense.

Down by two in the ninth, the Salem Red Sox rallied for three to stun the Lynchburg Hillcats (CIN) 5-4. Answering Lynchburg's quick first inning run, Oscar Tejeda lofted a sacrifice fly to knot the score at 1-1 after one. Down 2-1 in the 4th, Will Middlebrooks smacked his fourth home run of the year to once again even the score. Lynchburg grabbed two runs in the sixth and held the Red Sox without a base runner until the ninth. Salem started the ninth with three consecutive singles, the last by Middlebrooks which brought home the third Red Sox run. Tim Federowicz grounded into a fielder's choice later in the inning but an errant throw by the third baseman allowed the tying run to score. Alex Hassan completed the comeback by smoking a double to bring home Middlebrooks with the winning run. Brock Huntzinger went 5.2 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits while striking out 3 and issuing 4 walks. Mike Lee tossed the final 3.1 innings out of the bullpen, holding the Hillcats scoreless to earn his fourth victory of the season. Middlebrooks and Ryan Lavarnway each had two hits to pace the Salem offense.

Faulty relief pitching and three errors helped the Augusta GreenJackets (SFG) sink Greenville 7-2. Drive starter Manuel Rivera pitched well but picked up the loss as he went 6.0 innings, allowing 2 unearned runs on 5 hits while striking out 5. Pedro Perez pitched the final 3.0 innings of the contest and was torched for 5 runs on 7 hits. Michael Thomas hit his second home run of the season to put the Drive on the board in the third, one of only five hits Greenville would collect on the evening. In the eighth, Jeremy Hazelbaker stole second and third before scampering home on an errant throw by the Augusta catcher. Hazelbaker now has 28 stolen bases on the season, good for second in the South Atlantic League.

After dropping two straight contests, the DSL Red Sox nipped the DSL Yankees 2 squad 4-3. Scoreless after three, Derward Ruiz put the Red Sox on top 1-0 with his RBI single in the fourth. The Red Sox second run of the evening came home in the fifth as a result of a bases loaded walk to Xander Bogaerts, temporarily giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. After the Yankees tied the game in the sixth, Bogaerts RBI ground out and Ruiz's RBI single in the seventh gave the Red Sox an advantage they would not relinquish. Luis Diaz pitched the first 4.0 innings of the contest, allowing just 2 hits while collecting a pair of strikeouts. Pedro Reyes followed out of the bullpen, hurling 2.0 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. Alexander Mateo picked up his third victory of the young season by finishing the final 3.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit. Ruiz had 3 of 6 Red Sox hits to lead the offense.

Player of the Night: Felix Doubront, who went 5.0 innings and allowed just 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 5 batters in Pawtucket's 7-2 victory.

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