Rodriguez's power display crushes Mets

7/7 Cup of Coffee: Even though the Drive, Spinners and DSL Sox lost one run contests, Pawtucket, Salem and the GCL Red Sox won close games while Portland overpowered Binghamton.

After splitting a doubleheader yesterday, Pawtucket shut out the Syracuse Chiefs (WAS) 2-0 on the backs of their pitching. Felix Doubront picked up his first victory of 2011, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4. Tony Pena added 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 hit and striking out 2 to pick up his third save. With the game scoreless in the second, Lars Anderson smacked a solo home run to give the PawSox a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Luis Exposito added a solo home run, his fifth of the year, to put Pawtucket on top, 2-0. Che-Hsuan Lin added the only other hit for the PawSox.

In a rain shortened contest, the Sea Dogs thrashed the Binghamton Mets (NYM), 7-0. Brock Huntzinger picked up the victory, hurling 5.0 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8. Cesar Cabral added an inning of relief, allowing 1 hit and striking out 2. Portland got off to a quick start, plating four in the top of the first on a Chih-Hsien Chiang RBI double and a Reynaldo Rodriguez three run home run. In the third, Tim Federowicz added a sacrifice fly and Rodriguez laced a two run home run to put the Sea Dogs on top 7-0. The game was called after 6.0 innings due to rain. Rodriguez was 2 for 3 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI to power the Portland offense.

Looking to win its fourth in a row, Salem tipped the Wilmington Blue Rocks (KC), 3-2. Ryan Pressly received the start for the Red Sox, going 6.0 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3. Jeremiah Bayer moved to 5-1 as he tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out 4. Chris Martin picked up his third save by tossing a scoreless ninth inning, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2. Down 2-0 in the third, the Red Sox cut the Wilmington lead in half as Shannon Wilkerson laced an RBI single. Jorge Padron’s solo home run in the sixth tied the game 2-2. In the seventh, Derrik Gibson smashed an RBI double that brought home the eventual winning run. Gibson was 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, a run scored and an RBI to lead the Red Sox offense.

Despite a valiant effort, the Greenville Drive could not overcome an early deficit, falling to the Asheville Tourists (COL), 5-4. Charle Rosario dropped his first decision of the year, tossing 3.0 innings in the spot start, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3. Andrew Jones made his Greenville debut, adding 3.0 innings of relief, giving up just 2 hits while punching out a pair. Garrett Rau also added 2.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing a pair of hits and 2 walks, striking out 1. Down 5-0 in the fourth, Greenville got on the board as Drew Hedman smoked an RBI double and Michael Almanzar added an RBI single. In the seventh, a costly error by the Asheville third baseman and a Felix Sanchez RBI ground out brought the Drive to within striking distance, 5-4. The Tourists bullpen held the Drive in check the rest of the way to hold on to the victory. Hedman and Henry Ramos were each 2 for 4 with an extra base hit to lead the Drive offense.

In yet another game where pitching kept the game close, Lowell dropped a 2-1 decision to the Aberdeen Ironbirds (BAL). Madison Younginer went the first 5.0 innings for the Spinners, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk, striking out 5. Luis Bastardo added 3.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing 2 hits. Travis Shaw’s RBI double in the fourth gave Lowell a 1-0 lead that they would relinquish the very next inning. The Spinners were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, dropping to 9-10 overall.

Overcoming an early 6-0 hole, the GCL Red Sox rallied for an 8-6 victory over the GCL Rays (TB). Jacob Dahlstrand was let down by his defense, going just 0.1 innings, allowing 6 unearned runs on 3 hits and a walk. William Cuevas followed Dahlstrand with 5.2 sparkling innings of relief, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk, striking out 4. John Killen picked up the victory for his 1.0 inning of work, allowing 2 walks while striking out 1. Alexander Mateo picked up his first save, going 2.0 innings while allowing 1 hit and striking out 1. Down 6-0 in the second, the Red Sox plated two on a Jose Vinicio two run home run. In the sixth, Jose Colorado added a two run home run of his own to bring the Red Sox closer, 6-4. Nick Robinson’s RBI ground out in the seventh brought the GCL squad to within one, 6-5. In the eighth, Roberto Reyes laced a two run home run to give the Red Sox their first lead of the evening, 7-6. Colorado added an RBI triple in the ninth to give the Red Sox an insurance run and put them on top, 8-6. Vinicio was 3 for 4 with a double, home run, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI to lead the GCL offense.

Even though they battled back to tie the game in the later innings, the DSL Red Sox fell to the DSL Pirates (PIT), 6-5. Sully Bonnelly received the start for the Red Sox and went 5.0 innings, allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits and 1 walk, striking out 2. Oscar Melendez contributed 2.0 innings of relief, allowing an unearned run on 2 hits. Edwin Osario received the loss as he allowed the game winning run on 2 hits and a walk during his lone inning of work. Down 4-0 in the fifth, the Red Sox got on the board as Andres Garcia added an RBI single. Garcia lined another RBI single in the seventh, bringing the Red Sox closer at 4-2. After the Pirates plated a run in the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox plated three in the eighth on a wild pitch and a Cleuluis Rondon RBI single. With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates responded with the eventual game winning run as they took a 6-5 lead. The Red Sox committed four errors and were a disappointing 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Player of the Night: Reynaldo Rodriguez, who went 2 for 3 with 2 home runs, 2 runs scored and 5 RBI in Portland’s 7-0 victory over Binghamton.

Tweet