Exposito's hot bat can't lift Portland

8/2 Cup of Coffee: Lackluster pitching sunk Pawtucket, Portland and Lowell while the DSL squad walked-off with a victory in Sunday's action.

A leaky bullpen caused Pawtucket to fall 9-3 to the Durham Bulls (TB). Ramon A. Ramirez took the hill for the PawSox, tossing 5.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. Chad Paronto relieved Ramirez with 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits. Fernando Cabrera came on in the eighth and was hammered, not recording an out and allowing 7 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Tommy Hottovy came in and cleaned up the mess, going 2.0 scoreless innings. Down 1-0 in the third, Daniel Nava laced a double to even the score. Lars Anderson's RBI single in the second plated two more runs, giving Pawtucket a 3-2 lead. The advantage evaporated in a messy eighth inning and the PawSox were unable to muster any further scoring chances. Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5 with a run scored to lead the Pawtucket offense.

Portland came up on the wrong end of a heartbreaking extra inning loss, falling 12-11 in 11 innings to the Harrisburg Senators (WAS). Alex Wilson continued his struggles at the Double-A level, going 3.0 innings, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. Eammon Portice followed Wilson with 3.0 innings of his own, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 3. Bryce Cox struggled as he only recorded one out in the seventh, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. Jason Rice relieved Cox, going 2.2 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. Ryne Lawson picked up the loss for his 1.2 innings of work, allowing the winning run on a hit and a walk. Portland jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first on a Luis Exposito RBI ground out and an Anthony Rizzo RBI single. Down 5-2 in the fourth, the Sea Dogs exploded for six runs thanks to an RBI single from Yamaico Navarro, a sacrifice fly by Nate Spears and RBI doubles by Exposito and Rizzo. Exposito struck again in the sixth, plating two on another RBI double that gave Portland a 10-7 lead. Navarro's RBI double in the seventh gave Portland an insurance run, giving the Sea Dogs an 11-7 advantage, but the bullpen let the lead evaporate before giving the game away in extra innings. Exposito and Navarro both had 4 hits to lead the Portland offense.

Lowell's pitching was ineffective once again as they were stomped by the Vermont Lake Monsters (WAS) 13-4. Hunter Cervenka picked up his third loss of the season, going 4.0 innings, allowing 8 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5. Cesare Angeloni came on in relief, turning in 3.0 innings of scoreless relief. Jay Broughton tossed 1.1 innings, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 2 hits and 2 walks. Tyler Lavigne picked up the last two outs of the ninth, allowing one hit. Down 2-0 after a half inning, Lowell cut the lead in half on Kolbrin Vitek's solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. In the second, Joantoni Garcia roped an RBI single to even the score 2-2. The Spinners scored their only other runs of the contest in the fifth on a wild pitch and an error by the shortstop. Garcia was 2 for 4 to lead the Lowell offense.

Rallying in the bottom of the ninth, the DSL Red Sox stunned the DSL Mets (NYM) 6-5. Carlos Pinales took the mound for the Red Sox, going 5.0 sparkling innings, allowing an unearned run on 5 hits and a walk. Alexander Mateo went the final 4.0 innings of the contest, allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits and a walk to pick up the victory. The Red Sox got on the board in the second, receiving an RBI single from Curtney Doran to take a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, RBI singles from Aly Gonzalez and Lewis Urena as well as a sacrifice fly from David Sopilka put the Red Sox in front 4-0. Down 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox rallied with two outs, receiving a walk-off RBI single from Dreily Guerrero to take home the 6-5 victory. Guerrero and Doran each had 3 hits to lead the Red Sox offense.

Player of the Night: Luis Exposito, who was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, 4 RBI and a run scored in Portland's 12-11 loss against Harrisburg.

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