August 21, 2011 at 9:01 AM
Cervenka pitches Lowell to victory, Hassan displays power in front of hometown crowd
8/21 Cup of Coffee: Pawtucket and Portland took center stage at Fenway, but Lowell and the DSL Red Sox were the lone victors of the day. Salem was swept in a doubleheader and Greenville and the GCL Red Sox were clipped in their contests.
Game two of Futures at Fenway saw Pawtucket’s offense sputter in a 3-1 loss to the Syracuse Chiefs (WAS). Kyle Weiland received the loss as he had touch-and-go control at times, tossing 6.0 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks, striking out 5. Jason Rice contributed 3.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 4. Tommy Hottovy returned to the Fenway mound with 0.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing 1 hit and striking out 1. Michael Bowden retired the only batter he faced in relief. Pawtucket scored their lone run of the contest in the first inning, as Daniel Nava blasted a solo home run over the Red Sox bullpen in right field. Syracuse tied the game in the second, and scored singular runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take home the victory. Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 3 in his PawSox debut.
Game one of Futures at Fenway gave fans more than their bargained for, but Portland eventually fell to the Binghamton Mets (NYM) 6-4 in 11 innings. Charlie Haeger turned in his best outing of the season, hurling 6.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. Josh Fields looked impressive in his 2.1 innings of relief, allowing a walk and striking out 2. Chris Martin saw his Sea Dogs debut go sour as he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 2.0 innings of relief, picking up the loss. The game remained a pitcher’s duel until the seventh, when Binghamton finally got to a tired Haeger for two runs. In the eighth, Alex Hassan drilled a two run home run to the center field camera well to tie the game 2-2. The game moved to the eleventh, where the Mets touched up Martin for four runs, including a long three run home run over everything in left, to take a 6-2 lead. A Jon Hee RBI single brought home two in the bottom of the eleventh, but the Portland rally ended there as Hee was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double and Mitch Dening struck out looking to end the game.
In game one of a doubleheader, Salem could not overcome an early hole as they were nipped by the Wilmington Blue Rocks (KC), 3-2. Chris Hernandez pitched all 6.0 innings for the Red Sox, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3. With Wilmington leading 3-0 in the fifth, a Derrik Gibson RBI groundout put Salem on the board, 3-1. In the sixth, a Shannon Wilkerson RBI single pulled the Red Sox to within a run, 3-2. After getting a one out base runner in the seventh, a double play killed any potential rally and ended the game for Salem. The Red Sox grounded into three double plays and left six men on base in the loss.
Game two of the doubleheader fared no better for Salem, as they were overpowered by Wilmington, 6-2. Stolmy Pimentel picked up the loss for his 5.0 innings of work, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits and a walk, striking out 5. Tom Ebert added 1.0 inning of relief, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and a walk. Down 4-0 in the fourth, Alex Valdez’s RBI single put the Red Sox on the board, 4-1. Bryce Brentz added a solo home run in the sixth to account for the only other Salem run. Heiker Meneses was 2 for 3 in the contest to raise his Salem line to .455/.479/.705 in 11 games.
Greenville’s offensive was stymied in a 2-0 loss to the Savannah Sand Gnats (NYM). Kyle Stroup dropped to 5-6 for his 4.0 innings of work, allowing an unearned run on 2 hits, striking out 2. Justin Erasmus added 3.0 innings of relief, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2. Michael Gleason contributed 2.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 1. Henry Ramos and Wilfred Pichardo each had 2 hits in the loss to lead the Greenville offense.
Solid relief pitching allowed the Spinners to take down the rival Staten Island Yankees (NYY) 2-1 in 10 innings. Jason Garcia received the start, twirling 5.0 innings, allowing an unearned run on 5 hits and a walk, striking out 6. Hunter Cervenka was outstanding in his 5.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 hit and striking out 9 to pick up the victory. After Staten Island took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, Matt Marquis drilled an RBI single in the bottom of the frame to tie the game, 1-1. The game remained tied until the bottom of the tenth, where Jose Garcia laced a game winning two out RBI single. The victory is the second in a row for Lowell, the first time that has happened since July 22-23 against Vermont.
Despite an early lead, the GCL Red Sox caved to the GCL Twins (MIN), 5-4. Zach Good hurled the first 2.1 innings for the Red Sox, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 1 walk, striking out 3. Oscar Melendez received the loss for his 4.2 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 2. Alexander Mateo also contributed 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 1. The Red Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first, thanks to RBI singles from Kendrick Perkins and Jose Vinicio. The Twins tied the game in the third and took the lead over in the sixth, extending the lead to 5-3 in the ninth. Looking to stage a rally, the Red Sox drew to within a run on Williams Jerez’s RBI single. Perkins stepped to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third, but grounded out to first to end the game.
The DSL Red Sox offense came alive in the later innings as they muscled past the DSL Mets2 (NYM), 7-4. Pedro Reyes received the start for the Red Sox, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 4. Ellis Jimenez picked up the victory for his 4.0 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 3. Down 2-0 in the fifth, a Ynoel Aguero bases loaded walk put the Red Sox on the board, 2-1. Once again finding themselves in a two run hole in the sixth, the DSL squad tied the game on an RBI triple by Jeremias Pineda and an RBI single by Roberto Duncan. An Alixon Suarez bases loaded walk in the seventh and an Aguero squeeze bunt in the eighth, gave the Red Sox a 5-3 advantage. Duncan’s two out, 2 RBI single in the ninth extended the Red Sox lead to 7-3. The Mets received a lead off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, but went 1-2-3 after the blast to lose the game.
Player of the Day: Hunter Cervenka, who tossed 5.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing 1 hit and striking out 9, to pick up the victory in Lowell’s 2-1 extra inning win over Staten Island.
Co-Player of the Day: Alex Hassan, who went 3 for 4 with a home run, run scored and 2 RBI in Portland’s 6-4 loss at Fenway to the Binghamton Mets.