Mills helps secure victory for PawSox

6/30 Cup of Coffee: It was a tough night for Sox affiliates on Tuesday, with only one win in seven tries.

Pawtucket kept the roll going on Tuesday, clobbering the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees (NYY) 7-1 behind a solid start from Adam Mills. The PawSox righty went the first 7.0 innings, limiting the Yankees to just 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 2. Robert Manuel and Kason Gabbard finished things up with a hitless inning apiece. Pawtucket took an early lead in the second, when Josh Reddick drove home Lars Anderson with a sacrifice fly, and Juan Apodaca singled in Ryan Kalish to make it 2-0. That's how things would stay until the sixth, when Tug Hulett drove home two with a double, and Anderson broke things open in the seventh with a two-run two-bagger of his own, part of a three-run inning. The PawSox first baseman had one of his better games of late, going 2 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 RBI and a run scored. Kalish also had a nice night, going 2 for 5 with a steal.

Despite only being out-hit 9-8, Portland lost soundly at the hands of Harrisburg (WAS), 8-4. Things looked good early, when Nate Spears homered in the first to give the Sea Dogs a 1-0 lead. But six unanswered Senators runs over the next five frames took much of the wind out of Portland's sails. That damage was all done against Stephen Fife, who yielded those runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in his 5.0-inning start. Looking to hold the deficit at five and give Portland a chance, Eammon Portice ended up allowing 2 runs of his own on 3 hits in his 3.0 innings of relief, though he did punch out 5. The Sea Dogs attempted a come-back, scoring in the sixth on a Ray Chang RBI double and adding a couple more in the seventh on a two-run bomb off the bat of Anthony Rizzo, but it was too little, too late. Portland collected 8 hits in the game, but only Matt Sheely had more than one, going 2 for 4.

Salem actually out-hit its opponent on Tuesday, but still lost by the same margin, dropping a 9-5 decision to Winston-Salem (CWS). The Red Sox actually took a 4-0 lead after four in this one, grabbing 2 in the first on Ryan Lavarnway's RBI double and a run-producing single by Jorge Padron and 2 more in the fourth on Padron's double and an RBI single from Will Middlebrooks. But the Dash came right back, scoring 3 in the fourth and 4 more in the sixth, and just like that the score was 7-4. All those runs were charged to Caleb Clay, who in 6.0 innings yielded 6 hits, with no walks and 3 strikeouts. All the runs in the sixth were unearned. Winston-Salem would add two more in the eighth, and while Lavarnway chipped away with a sacrifice fly in the ninth, the game was already decided. Lavarnway, Padron, Tim Federowicz, and Ryan Dent all had multiple hits in this one.

Greenville could only muster 3 hits and committed 5 errors, losing easily to Savannah (NYM) 6-1. Michael Almanzar and Michael Thomas each had 2 fielding gaffes, though only 2 Savannah runs were unearned. Most of the damage was done against Ryan Pressly, who allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and 3 walks in 5.2 innings. Dennis Neuman went the rest of the way, allowing just an unearned run on 1 hit and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts. On offense, it was the Ronald Bermudez show for the Drive, as the right fielder went 2 for 3 with the team's lone RBI and a stolen base. The other Greenville hit belonged to Derrik Gibson, who was 1 for 4.

It was a tightly-fought game in Connecticut (DET), with both teams registering only 3 hits each, but the Spinners found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 decision. The tough-luck loss went to Madison Younginer, who allowed a second-inning run but was otherwise solid, going 4.0 innings yielding 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3. Charlie Rosario pitched the final 4.0 innings allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk, punching out 2. First-year Spinners Kolbrin Vitek, Bryce Brentz, and David Renfroe each had a hit for Lowell.

While their major league counterparts landed a big win against the Rays, the GCL Red Sox lost a tough one to the GCL Rays (TB) 5-4. The Rays jumped out front with a run in the second, but the Red Sox came right back in the third when Jason Thompson collected an RBI single. After falling behind again in the fourth, the Red Sox again evened things when Keury De La Cruz homered to lead off the bottom of the inning. A Luke Yoder home run actually put the Red Sox up 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but a three-run Rays seventh put the hometown team behind for good. Those runs scored on the watch of Michael Gleason, who allowed 3 hits and 2 walks in 1.2 innings of relief to take the loss. Eric Curtis got the start, allowing his 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. The Red Sox tried to make a comeback, loading the bases in the eighth with 1 out, but Trygg Larsson-Danforth could only muster an RBI groundout, and the Rays escaped the inning with the lead. Yoder had the best night offensively, going 2 for 4.

Another game against a Rays affiliate, another tough loss for the DSL Red Sox, who were creamed to the tune of 9-3. This was despite leading 3-0 after two, and registering 12 hits in the game, as the Red Sox committed 5 errors and allowed 12 hits to the Rays, too. Jair Bogaerts got things started well with a two-run double in the first, scoring Lewis Urena and Xander Bogaerts, the latter of whom added a sacrifice fly in the second. But it was all Rays from there, as Mario Alcantara struggled in his 4.0 innings, allowing 6 runs (only 2 earned) on 8 hits. Kiler Gil only allowed 1 run in his 3.0 innings of work, and Pedro Reyes allowed 2 unearned runs over the final 2.0 innings. It was a fine day to be a Bogaerts offensively, as Xander led the attack with 3 hits in 4 at-bats, while Jair chipped in 2 hits and a walk in 3 at-bats. Juan Ugas had a nice day as well, going 2 for 3 with a walk.

Player of the Night: Adam Mills, who went 7.0 strong innings to help Pawtucket pick up the lone affiliate win of the night.

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