Wilson's dominance propels Portland to win

7/4 Cup of Coffee: The Red Sox affiliates prospered on Sunday, as they took 4 of 6 games that were played.

Pawtucket collected 4 home runs and 14 total hits as they beat Scranton Wilkes-Barre (NYY), 9-3. The PawSox scored at least 1 run in 7 of the 8 innings they went to bat. Lars Anderson went 2-3 with a home run, 2 RBI and a walk. Luis Exposito went 3-4 with a solo shot. Ryan Khoury, who was recently assigned to Pawtucket from Portland, went 3-4 with a solo home run and a walk. Ronald Bermudez went 1-3 with a home run and 2 RBI. Not getting in on the home run barrage was Ryan Lavarnway, but the catcher went 2-5 and collected 2 RBI anyways. Jose Iglesias was 1-3 in the game before getting hit in the head with an Andrew Brackman fastball. Early indications are that the top prospect avoided serious injury, which is certainly great news. Kevin Millwood started for Pawtucket and threw 7 solid innings to improve to 5-1. Millwood allowed 6 hits and 3 runs, while he walked 3 and struck out 6.

Portland got an extraordinary pitching performance from its starter, Alex Wilson, and managed enough offense to beat New Hampshire (TOR), 5-2. Chih-Hsien Chiang went 2-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk. Will Middlebrooks and Mitch Dening each went 1-4 with an RBI. Oscar Tejeda went 2-4. Tejeda, who has certainly had a trying season after breaking out last year, has shown signs of improvement. He has had 2 hits in 3 of his last 4 games. That offense was certainly enough for the starter, as Alex Wilson was phenomenal. Wilson went 7 innings and allowed 5 hits and a run. He did not walk a batter and struck out 3. The 2009 2nd Round Pick actually had a shutout going into the 7th, but gave up a single (that baserunner was promptly erased on a double play) and a solo home run. The win improves Wilson to 7-4 on the season. His 2.70 ERA ranks 4th in the Eastern League.

Salem kept the good times rolling, as they beat Winston-Salem (CWS), 7-4. The Salem Sox were actually down 2-0 entering the 4th inning, but they scored all 7 runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings to break the game open. Bryce Brentz went 2-3 with a home run, 3 RBI and a walk. Brentz struggled initially after being promoted to Salem, but has been red hot as of late, with 5 home runs in his last 7 games. Also contributing to the cause were Jorge Padron (3-5, 2 doubles), Alex Valdez (2-4, double, triple) and Dan Butler (2-4, RBI). Drake Britton started for Salem and went the first 2 innings. He gave up 3 hits, 2 runs, did not walk a batter and struck out 3. Tom Ebert relieved Britton and pitched 4 solid innings to earn the victory. He allowed 4 hits, 2 runs, walked 1 and struck out 2. Chris Martin threw 3 scoreless innings to earn the save. He allowed 1 hit, did not walk anyone and struck out 2.

Greenville could not keep the winning ways going, as they lost to Hickory (TEX), 7-4. The Drive held a 4-2 lead entering the 7th inning, but gave up 5 runs in the 7th and 8th innings, and could not answer. Michael Almanzar, recently demoted from Salem, went 3-4 with a double, an RBI and a steal. Christian Vazquez went 2-4 with an RBI. Sean Coyle went 3-5 with a triple. Xander Bogaerts went 1-4 with a solo home run. Keith Couch started for Greenville and pitched decently, as he left the game with the lead. Couch went 6 innings and allowed 9 hits and 2 runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out 1. Tyler Lockwood came on in the 7th and took the loss, as he gave up the deciding 3 runs in his lone inning of action.

Lowell was a tough luck loser on Sunday, as they lost to Connecticut (DET), 3-2. The loss snapped a 4-game winning streak for Lowell. This game was tied at 2-2 entering the bottom of the 9th, when Swen Huijer gave up a walk-off home run to Javier Azcona to lead off the inning. Leading the way offensively for the Spinners was Travis Shaw. Shaw went 2-4 with an RBI. Hunter Cervenka started for Lowell and pitched 4 innings. He allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, walked 2 and struck out 2. Joe Holtmeyer made his professional debut in relief of Cervenka, and pitched 2 hitless innings. He walked 2 and did not record a strikeout.

The DSL Red Sox game with the DSL Yankees was postponed.

Player of the Day: Alex Wilson, who pitched 7 great innings in Portland’s 5-2 win over New Hampshire. He allowed 5 hits and a run while not walking a batter and recording 3 strikeouts.

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