Lavarnway muscles Salem to victory

6/7 Cup of Coffee: It was a rough day for Sox affiliates on Sunday, which managed only one win on the afternoon.

Pawtucket led early, let it slip away, tied things up, but ultimately lost to Louisville (CIN) by a 4-3 score. Lars Anderson put the PawSox up 1-0 in the first when his line drive deflected off the glove of the Bats second baseman into right, scoring Niuman Romero who had led off the inning with a single. The lead was short lived, though, thanks to Randor Bierd, who allowed the tying run in the second and the go-ahead run in the fourth, allowing 7 hits and a walk in his 3.1 innings of work. Fabio Castro allowed a run of his own in 3.2 innings, and the score stood at 3-1 heading into the top of the eighth. That's when Daniel Nava stepped to the plate with a man aboard and launched his eighth home run of the year out to right, tying the game at 3-3. But things went south again in the bottom of the frame, as Chad Paronto walked the lead-off man, allowed a single and an intentional walk to load the bases with one out, got a big strikeout, but then hit the next batter to force in the go-ahead run. The PawSox then went quickly and quietly in the ninth. A slew of Pawtucket hitters had nice games in this one, as Romero, Nava, Anderson, and Dusty Brown were all 2 for 4.

Portland's game against Reading was washed out on Sunday. Because this was to be the final game of the season between the two teams, the game will only be rescheduled if necessary.

Despite finding themselves in an early 3-0 hole, the Salem Red Sox came all the way back to best Myrtle Beach (ATL) by a score of 5-4. Miguel Gonzalez got himself into early trouble by walking the first three Pelicans he faced and ended up giving up 3 runs in the first inning. He relinquished 2 more hits in the second but escaped that inning unscathed before he was replaced by Cesar Cabral, who mowed down every hitter he faced, striking out 4 over 2.0 perfect innings. Meanwhile, the Salem offense had been piecing together runs, scoring on a bases-loaded walk in the first by Tim Federowicz and on Pete Hissey's first home run of the year leading off the third. With the score 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Lavarnway put the Red Sox up for good with a three-run blast to left, his thirteenth of the year. Zach Hammes and Kyle Fernandes took care of things from there to close out the win. Hissey, who was 3 for 4, and Lavarnway, who was 2 for 4, were the offensive stars.

Greenville managed 8 hits against Augusta (SFG), but that's about all that went right for the Drive, as the team ultimately fell 8-1. The Green Jackets did most of their damage against starter Pete Ruiz, who did manage to last 4.0 innings but gave up 5 runs on 11 hits, walking and striking out 1. Jeremiah Bayer was little better in relief, allowing 3 more runs on 4 hits in his 4.0 innings. Dennis Neuman was the only Drive pitcher to provide any real relief, tossing a perfect ninth. Greenville grabbed its only run of the afternoon when Reynaldo Rodriguez grounded into a double play in the second after Michael Almanzar and Reymond Fuentes has led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Almanzar was the only Drive hitter with multiple hits, going 2 for 4 with a double.

After winning their first five games, the DSL Red Sox dropped their second in a row on Sunday, losing 12-6 at the hands of the DSL Mets. The Mets scored 5 runs in the first 2.0 innings against Mario Alcantara, although only 3 were earned. Kiler Gil allowed 2 more unearned runs in his 4.0 innings of work, but the Mets really broke out the lumber for Cesar Cabral, who allowed 5 earned runs in his 1.1 innings of work, allowing only 1 hit but walking 6. The Red Sox did most of their damage in the ninth, scoring five times, but it was too little, too late. Lewis Urena had the best day offensively for the Red Sox, going 2 for 5 with a double, while Dreily Guerrero was 1 for 2 with 3 walks.

Player of the Night: Ryan Lavarnway, who was 2 for 4 with a go-ahead three-run home run to propel Salem to victory.

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