July 19, 2011 at 8:59 AM
Lavarnway remains on fire; leads Pawtucket to win
7/19 Cup of Coffee: The Red Sox affiliates took 4 of 7 games on Monday’s schedule, with some great individual efforts.Pawtucket got help from a familiar contributor en route to a 4-1 victory over Lehigh Valley (PIT). Ryan Lavarnway went 3-3 with a walk, a double, a home run and 3 RBI. His 3rd inning RBI double registered the first run of the game, while his 7th inning 2-run homer gave the PawSox even more of a cushion. Over his last 6 games, Lavarnway is hitting an unbelievable .609 (14-23) with 5 home runs and 9 RBI. Also contributing to the cause for Pawtucket was Lars Anderson, who went 1-4 with an RBI double. Brandon Duckworth got the start and improved to 6-6 on the season. Duckworth went 5 scoreless innings and allowed just 4 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 3. Hideki Okajima relieved Duckworth with 2 perfect innings, striking out 3. Michael Bowden came on for the final 2 innings, and allowed 1 hit and 1 run (which was unearned, thanks to an error by Che-Hsuan Lin). He walked 1 and struck out 3.
Portland used a late surge to get past Binghamton (NYM), 7-4. The game was tied, 2-2, until the bottom of the 7th when the Sea Dogs plated 5 runs, including a homer by Will Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks went 2-4 with a double, a home run, and 4 RBI. He is hitting .381 over his last 10 games, with 3 home runs and 15 RBI. Also contributing offensively for Portland were Jon Hee (2-3, double, walk), Oscar Tejeda (2-4, double, steal) and Ryan Khoury (1-3, double, RBI, 2 walks). Alex Wilson started for Portland and allowed 9 hits and 2 runs over 5.2 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out 6. Cesar Cabral earned the win by pitching 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Wilson. He allowed 2 hits, walked 1 and struck out 2. Blake Maxwell earned the ever elusive 1 pitch save in this one, as he came on in relief of Charle Rosario with 2 outs in the 9th and induced a ground out to end the game.
Salem plated 2 runs in the first inning, but had just 1 hit the rest of the way and lost to Frederick (BAL), 6-2. Derrik Gibson and Alex Valdez opened the game with 2 straight doubles for Salem, in what was hardly an indicator of what was to come. Jorge Padron’s 4th inning walk and Shannon Wilkerson’s 5th inning single accounted for the only baserunners Salem had in the final 8 innings. Stolmy Pimentel started for the Salem Sox and allowed 6 hits and 5 runs (4 earned) over 2.1 innings. He walked 2 and struck out 1. One of the lone bright spots of this game was Pete Ruiz. Ruiz allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk in 4.2 scoreless innings of relief, while striking out 7.
Greenville lost to Rome (ATL), 7-3. Brandon Jacobs went 2-4 with a double, a home run and 2 RBI. David Renfroe went 1-4 with a solo home run in the 3rd inning. Felix Sanchez went 2-4 with 2 steals. Brandon Workman started for Greenville and allowed 8 hits and 6 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings. He walked 3 and struck out 3. Michael Gleason pitched 2 perfect innings to end the game, and has yet to allow a run through 4 appearances with the Drive.
Lowell beat up on Brooklyn (NYM), 11-5. The Spinners plated multiple runs in 3 of the first 5 innings, and after 5, they were up by a score of 8-0. Seth Schwindenhammer went 3-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. Garin Cecchini went 2-5 with a double, a home run and 3 RBI. Boss Moanaroa went 2-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBI. Luis Diaz started for Lowell and got the win, improving to 3-1. He allowed 3 hits and 2 runs over 5.2 innings. Diaz walked 3 and struck out 5. He had gotten through the first 5 innings unscathed before losing steam in the 6th.
The GCL Red Sox were throttled by the GCL Rays, 12-2. The game was a lot closer than that score would indicate, as it was tied at 2-2 entering the bottom of the 6th inning. The GCL Rays put up 10 runs in their final 3 at-bats to break the game wide open. The lone offensive standouts in this game for the Sox were Kendrick Perkins and Matt Gedman. Perkins went 3-4 with a walk and 3 doubles while Gedman went 2-4 with a walk and his first career homer, a solo shot in the 4th. Zach Good started for the GCL Sox and pitched 2 perfect innings with 3 strikeouts. Jacob Dahlstrand relieved Good and did not allow a run through 3 innings. He imploded in the 6th, however, and was charged with 5 earned runs without retiring a batter in the inning.
The DSL Red Sox climbed out of an early hole to beat the DSL Astros, 14-8. After 3 innings, the Astros had a commanding 7-2 lead. The Red Sox were not to be denied, however, as they scored 12 runs between the 5th and 7th innings to take a lead that they did not relinquish. Every member of the lineup had at least 1 hit. Leading the way were Andres Garcia (5-5, 2 walks), Deiner Lopez (2-6, double, 4 RBI) and David Sopilka (2-5, walk, double, 3 RBI). Sully Bonnelly started for the DSL Sox and gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in 2 innings. He walked 2 and struck out 2. Oscar Melendez improved to 4-0 on the season, as he pitched 4 innings in relief of Bonnelly. Melendez allowed 6 hits and 4 runs (3 earned), while walking 1 and striking out 3. Ellis Jimenez pitched 3 scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his 2nd save. He allowed 2 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 2.
Player of the Day: Ryan Lavarnway, who continued to rake for Pawtucket, as he went 3-3 with a walk, a double, a home run and 3 RBI in their victory over Lehigh Valley.