April 26, 2011 at 8:52 AM
Reynaldo Rodriguez keeps slugging in Salem's victory
4/26 Cup of Coffee: The 3 Red Sox affiliates in action last night all had double-digit hit totals, but only the Salem Red Sox came out victorious.
Pawtucket and Rochester (MIN) were rained out, with a doubleheader scheduled for July 5th.
Despite 11 hits, Portland was doubled up by Binghampton, 6-3. Jorge Padron went 3-5 with an RBI. Alex Hassan went 2-5 with a double. Hassan leads the team with a .407 batting average. Stephen Fife took his first loss of the season. Fife went 4.1 innings, allowed 5 hits and 4 runs. He walked 1 and struck out 3. Tommy Hottovy continued his impressive season. Hottovy went 2.2 scoreless innings and allowed just 2 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 2. The lefty’s ERA now stands at an impressive 0.84 on the year.
Salem used 14 hits to beat Kinston (CLE), 7-3. Leading the way was none other than Reynaldo Rodriguez. He went 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI. Over his last 10 games, Rodriguez has been scorching hot. In that time, he’s hit .450 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI. Kolbrin Vitek went 2-5 and raised his average to .349. After a pretty miserable start to the season, Vitek has really turned it around. Over his last 8 games, the Ball State product has hit .500 (18-36). Chris Hernandez started for the Salem Sox and went 4 innings and allowed 3 hits and a run. He walked 2 and struck out 3. Jeremiah Bayer relieved Hernandez and earned the win. Bayer went 3 innings, allowed 3 hits and a run while he walked none and struck out 6. Cesar Cabral earned his 4th save of the season as he went the final 2 innings and allowed 3 hits and a run. Cabral walked 1 and struck out 2.
Apparently, 11 hits was not a good omen for Sox affiliates last night, as Greenville got 11 hits and also lost to Greensboro (FLA), 5-2. Christian Vazquez went 3-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk. Brandon Jacobs went 3-5 with a double to increase his team-leading average to .391. Jacobs has hit .563 (9-16) over his last 4 games, and ranks 4th ihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn the SAL in both batting average (.391) and on-base percentage (.481). Anthony Ranaudo started the game for Greenville and went 4.2 innings. He allowed just 2 hits, 3 runs (0 earned) and a walk. He struck out 8 in the outing. The precocious righty’s ERA now stands at a paltry 0.46.
Player of the Day: Reynaldo Rodriguez. We try to mix up the POD as much as we can here at SoxProspects.com, but this guy has simply been too good. He went 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI in Salem’s victory over Kinston.