July 26, 2011 at 5:00 AM
Perkins powers Red Sox over Rays
7/26 Cup of Coffee: Greenville, the DSL Red Sox and the GCL Red Sox were the only affiliates victorious on Monday. Pawtucket, Portland and Lowell could not contain their opponent’s offenses while Salem lost a close contest.Attempting to duplicate their come from behind win a night prior, Pawtucket fell just short of another comeback in an 8-7 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bisons (NYM). Kevin Millwood tossed 5.0 innings, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2. Tommy Hottovy added 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, striking out 1. Royce Ring received the loss for his lone inning of relief, allowing 1 run on 1 hit. Nate Spears led off the game with a solo home run to give Pawtucket a very quick 1-0 lead. Down 2-1 in the third, Lars Anderson’s RBI double tied the game 2-2. In the seventh, a Ronald Bermudez RBI single pulled the PawSox closer as they trimmed the Buffalo lead to 5-3. Facing a 7-3 hole to begin the eighth, Pawtucket rallied for four runs to tie the game on a wild pitch and a Hector Luna three run home run. The Bisons came right back in the bottom of the eighth, plating a run to reclaim the lead. In the ninth, Pawtucket left a runner on third as they suffered the defeat. Spears and Bermudez were the only members of the Pawtucket lineup to record multi-hit games, each smacking two hits.
Portland’s pitching faltered in the later innings as they were crushed by the Binghamton Mets (NYM), 13-2. Brock Huntzinger suffered the loss, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, striking out 4. Caleb Clay added an inning of relief, being torched for 8 runs (6 earned) on 6 hits and a walk, striking out 1. Cesar Cabral finished the game with 2.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 2. Down 2-0 in the fourth, Chih-Hsien Chiang laced a solo home run to cut Portland’s deficit to 2-1. In the sixth, Tim Federowicz’s sacrifice fly tied the game 2-2. The Mets would go on to score six in the bottom of the six and five in the seventh to pull away with the easy victory.
Despite outhitting their opponents 8-6, Salem was doubled up by the Frederick Keys (BAL), 4-2. Drake Britton dropped to 1-10 on the season for his 4.0 inning performance, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 5. Tom Ebert added 3.0 innings of relief, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk, striking out 3. Will Latimer contributed 1.0 inning of relief, allowing just 1 hit. Down 2-0 in the fifth, Vladimir Frias scampered home on a balk as the Red Sox cut their deficit in half. Peter Hissey’s sacrifice fly in the eighth once again cut the Salem deficit in half, 4-2. The Red Sox offense was quiet the rest of the way as they dropped their second straight.
Greenville used some late scoring punch to extinguish the Hagerstown Suns (WAS), 6-4. Keith Couch picked up the victory for his 6.0 innings of work, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Tyler Lockwood added 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits, striking out 1. Michael Olmsted picked up his second save for a scoreless ninth inning in which he struck out two. Down 1-0 in the sixth, Greenville took a 4-1 lead, thanks to a Wilfred Pichardo RBI double and a Henry Ramos three run home run. In the seventh, the Drive expanded their lead to 5-2 on a Drew Dominguez RBI single. Drew Hedman’s solo home run in the ninth gave Greenville some breathing room, 6-4. Brandon Jacobs was the only member of the Drive lineup to record a multi-hit contest, going 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Avoiding raindrops, Lowell was easily dismissed by the Auburn Doubledays (WAS), 8-2. Tyler Wilson suffered the loss for his 4.0 innings of work, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6. Matty Ott added 1.2 innings out of the bullpen, allowing 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Kevin Brahney contributed 2.1 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 5. Andrew Jones twirled a perfect ninth inning. Down 1-0 in the second, Seth Schwindenhammer led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to tie the game, 1-1. The Spinners only other run of the evening came in the seventh on a Keury De La Cruz RBI single. Schwindenhammer was 2 for 4 with a triple, home run, run scored and RBI in the loss.
The GCL Red Sox overcame three errors with plenty of offense in a 9-5 victory over the GCL Rays (TB). Francisco Tavares received the start for the Red Sox, going 3.1 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 1. Yunior Ortega received the victory for his 3.2 innings of relief, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 2. Renny Parthemore and Jordan Flasher each added an inning of scoreless relief. Kendrick Perkins smashed a two run home run in the first to give the Red Sox a quick 2-0 lead. Down 3-2 in the fourth, Oscar Perez brought home two on his RBI single to give the Red Sox a 4-3 advantage. Perkins lofted his second two run home run of the day in the fifth, vaulting the GCL squad to a 6-3 lead. The Red Sox expanded their lead to 8-3 in the sixth on back-to-back RBI singles by Williams Jerez and David Chester. Perez looped a sacrifice fly in the seventh to give the Red Sox their ninth and final run. Perkins was the star of the game for the Red Sox, going 2 for 3 with 3 runs scored, a walk, two home runs and 4 RBI.
Coming off of the All-Star break, the DSL Red Sox used a four run fifth inning to propel themselves to a 5-1 victory over the DSL Dodgers (LAD). Pedro Reyes picked up the victory for his 5.0 innings of work, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Carlos Pinales recorded his seventh save for 4.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing 3 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Down 1-0 in the fifth, the Red Sox brought home four on an Anthony Amaya RBI single, Ynoel Aguero sacrifice fly, and a David Sopilka RBI single. A run scoring double play in the eighth accounted for the only other Red Sox run of the contest. The Red Sox recorded only four hits in the victory.
Player of the Night: Kendrick Perkins, who went 2 for 3 with two home runs, 4 RBI, 3 runs scored and a walk in the GCL Red Sox 9-5 victory over the GCL Rays.