Anderson breaks out in Pawtucket split

5/19 Cup of Coffee: Rain Tuesday caused two doubleheaders on Wednesday, with Pawtucket splitting their contests and Salem getting swept away. Elsewhere, Greenville used the strength of its pitching to achieve victory, while Portland was dropped thanks to an inefficient bullpen.

Game one of a doubleheader saw Pawtucket come on late in a 7-2 victory over the Columbus Clippers (CLE). Kyle Weiland hurled the first 5.0 inning of the contest, moving to 3-4 on the season as he allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Dan Wheeler added 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk, striking out 3. Down 1-0 in the fifth, the PawSox plated four runs on a Josh Reddick RBI single and a Lars Anderson three run home run, his first of the season. Tony Thomas lofted a sacrifice fly in the sixth to give Pawtucket a 5-1 lead. In the seventh, Drew Sutton blasted a two run home run to give the PawSox an even wider advantage, 7-1. Wheeler let up a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh, but kept the Clippers at bay to end the shortened contest.

Game two was a much different story than game one, as Pawtucket’s sloppy play contributed to their 8-3 defeat at the hands of the Clippers. Andrew Miller received the start and went 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks, striking out 6. Dennis Neuman picked up the loss, allowing 5 unearned runs on 2 hits and a walk in just 0.2 innings. Blake Maxwell added 0.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing 2 hits. In the top of the second, Pawtucket took an early 1-0 lead as Anderson laced his second home run of the day. After Columbus retaliated with two in the bottom half of the second, the PawSox grabbed two of their own in the top of the third on a Thomas RBI double and a fielding error by the Clippers second baseman. The slim 3-2 lead would evaporate in the later innings, as errors and ineffectiveness allowed Columbus to charge ahead for the victory.

Taking advantage of a bullpen that could provide no relief, the Reading Phillies (PHI) jumped all over Portland for a 13-4 victory. Michael Lee hurled the first 5.0 innings for the Sea Dogs, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3. Cesar Cabral picked up the loss for his 1.1 innings of work, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. Santo Luis relieved Cabral and produced nearly the same result, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Caleb Clay finished the final inning of the contest, allowing 1 run on 1 hit. Quickly down 1-0 in the first, Portland tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on a Tim Federowicz RBI single. After Reading pulled ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth, the Sea Dogs once again retaliated in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game 2-2 on a Ryan Lavarnway solo home run. In the fifth, Portland grabbed the lead 4-2 as Chih-Hsein Chiang roped an RBI double and Alex Hassan lofted a sacrifice fly. The lead would quickly evaporate, as Portland was held scoreless the rest of the way, while their counterparts scored eleven times over the final four innings.

Game one of Salem’s doubleheader was lost by the bullpen as the Red Sox fell 7-1 to the Wilmington Blue Rocks (KC). Chris Hernandez turned in another stellar start, tossing 4.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3. Jeremiah Bayer picked up the loss for his 1.2 innings of relief, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. Mitch Herold added 1.1 clean innings of relief, striking out 1. Salem’s lone run of the contest came in the third, as Kolbrin Vitek poked an RBI single that brought home Peter Hissey. The Red Sox only mustered 5 hits, 2 off the bat of Vitek.

Game two was more of the same for Salem, as their offense couldn’t get it into gear in a 5-1 loss to the Blue Rocks. Drake Britton dropped to 1-4 on the season as he tossed 5.1 innings, allowing 3 runs on 1 hit and 4 walks while striking out 7. Kendal Volz added 1.2 innings of relief, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk. Salem’s lone run of the game came in the third, as Dan Butler smacked a two out RBI single. The Red Sox have now lost 6 straight and 9 of their last 10 contests.

Despite being outhit 7-5, the Greenville Drive blanked the Augusta GreenJackets (SF) 3-0. Scott Swinson picked up the victory for his 5.0 impressive innings of work, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Garrett Rau tossed 3.0 innings of relief, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 1. Michael Gleason made his 2011 debut, adding a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the save. The Drive got on the board in the third, picking up two runs on a Heiker Meneses RBI single and a wild pitch. Brandon Jacobs smashed an RBI double in the sixth to give Greenville their third and final run of the evening.

Player of the Night: Lars Anderson who went 3 for 6 with 3 runs scored, 2 home runs and 4 RBI in Pawtucket’s doubleheader split against Columbus.

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