Fife takes no-hitter into the seventh in Portland victory

6/8 Cup of Coffee: Some great individual efforts highlighted an eventful day for the Red Sox affiliates.

Pawtucket lost a heartbreaker in 13 innings to Norfolk (BAL), 4-3. The Tides put up 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th, and the Sox immediately answered with 3 in the top of the 6th. The score remained 3-3 until the bottom of the 13th when Norfolk plated the winning run. Brent Dlugach went 1-5 with a home run and 3 RBI. Lars Anderson and Tony Thomas each went 2-6 with a double. Kyle Weiland started for Pawtucket. He went 5 innings and allowed 3 hits and 3 runs (1 earned). The right hander walked 3 and struck out 4. Scott Atchison and Hideki Okajima each threw 2 perfect innings in relief with 4 strikeouts. Both have been positively stellar in their stints in Pawtucket this season. Atchison has a 1.05 ERA and a 27:1 K:BB ratio, while Okajima has a 0.61 ERA, 14 strikeouts, and has not walked a single batter at the AAA level.

Portland got superb pitching en route to a 6-0 shutout victory over Richmond (SF). Stephen Fife turned in one of the best performances of his professional career, taking a no-hitter into the seventh. He had only allowed baserunners on one walk and two fielding errors before Justin Christian's single to left broke up the no-no and ended the right-hander's night with one out in the seventh. Fife struck out 7 in moving to 6-3 on the year. Chih-Hsien Chiang went 1-4 with a home run and 2 RBI. That makes 4 straight games with a longball for Chiang. Jorge Padron went 1-3 with a home run and 2 RBI. Jeremy Hazelbaker was the only member of the lineup to register multiple hits.

Salem collected 13 hits, but that isn’t so impressive when you give up 16 to the other team, as they lost to Lynchburg (ATL), 8-5. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-4 with a double, a walk and 2 RBI. Dan Butler went 2-4 with an RBI. Pete Hissey went 3-5 with 2 steals. Ryan Pressly toed the rubber for Salem, and did not fare particularly well. Pressly went 4.1 innings and allowed 10 hits and 6 runs (3 earned). He did not walk a batter and struck out 2.

Greenville got some late inning heroics, and beat Lexington (HOU), 5-4. After Henry Ramos reached on an error in the 9th. David Renfroe hit an RBI single to plate Ramos and win the game for the Drive. Renfroe went 2-4 with 2 RBI. Drew Hedman went 2-3 with an RBI. Miles Head and Brandon Jacobs each went 2-4 in the game. Head is 15 for his last 30, and is showing that he has little left to prove at Low A ball. Keith Couch started for Greenville and threw 6 solid, if unspectacular, innings. Couch allowed 8 hits and 3 runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out 3. The 21-year old righty has a sparkling 45:6 K:BB ratio on the season.

The DSL Red Sox took care of the DSL Royals, 7-3. Aly Gonzalez went 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Ynoel Aguero went 2-3 in the game and is hitting a rather pedestrian .700 after 4 games. Aneudis Peralta went 1-3 with an RBI. Jeffry Hernandez turned in his 2nd great start of the year for the DSL Sox in as many tries. Hernandez went 4 innings and allowed just 1 hit and 1 run (0 earned). He did not walk a batter and struck out 4. Ricardo Betancourt picked up his 2nd win of the season in relief of Hernandez. Betancourt went 3 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 2.

Player of the Day: Stephen Fife, who took a no-hitter into the seventh in Portland's 6-0 shutout of Richmond. Fife walked 1 and struck out 7 in the outing.

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