Affiliates struggle on fruitless Thursday

5/27 Cup of Coffee: As the parent club in Boston continued to roll, the story on the farm was quite different. Pawtucket and Salem dropped close one run contests while Portland’s sloppy play torpedoed their chances. Greenville’s contest against Kannapolis was washed away by rain.

Despite a strong showing from the bullpen, Pawtucket was nipped by the Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 4-3. Brandon Duckworth dropped to 4-3 as he tossed 4.0 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks, striking out 2. Tony Pena relieved Duckworth and was outstanding, adding 3.0 innings, allowing just a hit and a walk while punching out 4. Clevlan Santeliz came on in the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a hit but striking out the side. Tommy Hottovy also contributed a scoreless inning of relief, dropping his ERA to 1.42. Down 1-0 in the fourth, Tony Thomas lofted a sacrifice fly to tie the affair 1-1. The Indians responded by plating 3 in the top of the fifth, taking a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, RBI groundouts by Jose Iglesias and Hector Luna brought the PawSox to within one. However, Pawtucket would only garner one base runner the rest of the way as their winning streak was snapped. Daniel Nava was 2 for 4 to lead the PawSox offense.

Five errors and poor pitching lead to the Sea Dogs 13-7 defeat at the hands of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR). Miguel Gonzalez moved to 0-2 as a member of the Sea Dogs as he tossed 3.2 innings, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks, striking out 3. Kyle Fernandes added 3.1 innings of relief, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, striking out 1. Santo Luis hurled the final 2.0 innings for Portland, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk, punching out 1. In the first, Jeremy Hazelbaker’s legs provided Portland with an early 1-0 lead. After leading off the inning with a walk, Hazelbaker stole second and moved to third on a throwing error, eventually scoring on a wild pitch. The lead was short lived however, as New Hampshire plated 2 in the top of the second and 3 in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. A Will Middlebrooks bases loaded walk and a Chih-Hsien Chiang sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth pulled the Sea Dogs to within 2 at 5-3. The Fisher Cats pounced back in the very next inning, receiving four runs to take a 9-3 advantage. In the eighth, a Ryan Lavarnway solo home run and a Chiang RBI groundout inched Portland closer, 9-5. The Fischer Cats once again responded in the top of the ninth with four more runs to open up a comfy 13-5 lead. Portland attempted to rally in the ninth, receiving RBI singles from Alex Hassan and Tim Federowicz, but ultimately fell short.

Salem, looking to move into a first place tie, was the victim of some late game heroics as they fell 4-3 to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (TEX). Chris Balcom-Miller hurled the first 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits and 3 walks, striking out 7. Tom Ebert picked up the loss, hurling 3.0 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. Down 1-0 in the fifth, Salem tied the contest on a Mark Wagner RBI single. Myrtle Beach responded with 2 in the bottom half of the inning, but Salem tied the game again in the sixth on a Reynaldo Rodriguez RBI single that brought home 2. In the seventh, a Wilfred Pichardo RBI single gave Salem a 4-3 lead. In the eighth, Salem quickly loaded the bases with nobody out, but squandered the opportunity by getting no runs. Myrtle Beach took advantage of the missed chance by Salem, staging a two out rally in the bottom half of the inning to take a 5-4 lead. The Red Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to seal the defeat. Rodriguez and Wagner each had two hits to lead the Salem offense.

Greenville’s contest with Kannapolis was postponed due to rain. The two teams will play a doubleheader starting at 5PM this evening.

Player of the Night: Ryan Lavarnway, who went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored, and a solo home run in Portland’s 13-7 loss to New Hampshire.

Tweet