August 10, 2011 at 6:00 AM
Pawtucket sweeps doubleheader, GCL Sox swept
8/10 Cup of Coffee: Pawtucket and the GCL Red Sox each played doubleheaders with varying degrees of success on Tuesday, while Portland exploded for 14 hits in a big victory. Red Sox affiliates went 3-5 on the day.
Pawtucket played a psuedo-doubleheader with the Charlotte Knights (CWS) after their game on Monday was halted in the second inning. The game resumed on Monday and the PawSox game out on top, 6-1. Leading by a score of 2-1, Junichi Tazawa began the continuation game on the mound and pitched a pair of scoreless innings, though he did allow 4 hits. It was Tazawa's first action in Triple-A since undergoing Tommy John surgery. A sacrifice fly by Daniel Nava in the fourth extended the Pawtucket lead to 3-1, while Ryan Lavarnway's second home run of the game (he had a first-inning blast before the rain came on Tuesday) pushed the advantage to 4-1 in the sixth. Nate Spears also picked up an RBI on a groundout in the sixth for Pawtucket's fifth run. In the eighth, Brett Carroll hit his first home run as a member of the PawSox to round out the scoring. Scott Atchison and Jason Rice allowed just 1 hit over the final 5.0 innings and Pawtucket coasted to the victory.
Game two was just as kind to the PawSox, as they made it four straight wins with a 5-1 victory. Matt Fox retired the first 14 batters of the game before finishing his outing with 1 run allowed on 2 hits with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. Pawtucket struck first in the opening inning on an RBI double from Lars Anderson. Three more runs followed in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Spears and a two-run bomb by Nava. After Charlotte scored in the bottom half of the inning, Nava knocked in another run in the seventh on a groundout. Michael Bowden tossed the final inning to seal the deal for the PawSox.
Portland produced a 14-hit effort in its 9-2 drubbing of the Akron Aeros (CLE). Charlie Haeger moved to 2-0 as a Sea Dog with a 7.0-inning, 2-run effort. He allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. Alex Hassan, Mark Wagner, Will Middlebrooks, and Matt Spring combined for 10 of the 14 Portland hits, while Hassan's perfect 3 for 3 day included a pair of home runs and 4 RBI. Kyle Fernandez pitched the final 2.0 innings in relief and allowed 1 hit and 2 walks.
Salem scored three runs in the first and didn't look back in a 7-4 win over the Potomac Nationals (WAS). After waiting all season for his first win of 2011 in his last start, Stolmy Pimentel made it two in a row after throwing 6.0 innings and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. After Bryce Brentz knocked in two with a double and Miles Head hit an RBI groundout in the first, the Nationals answered with one of their own. Salem picked up another run in the second thanks to a ball hit by Peter Hissey with the bases loaded. What looked to be a base hit to center turned into a fielder's choice after an out was made at second, but a run still scored to make it 4-1. The two teams traded runs in the fourth, with Salem's coming on an RBI single from Josue Peley. Derrik Gibson and Hissey posted back-to-back RBI singles in the sixth to give the Sox a 7-1 lead. Potomac got to Pimentel for two runs in the sixth and scored one off of Jeremiah Bayer in the eighth, but William Latimer shut the door in the ninth for his seventh save of the season.
Greenville (and the rest of the South Atlantic League) had Tuesday off, but the Drive will head to Savannah to take on the Sand Gnats today. First pitch of the four-game set is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT.
Lowell could only scratch out two hits against the Hudson Valley Renegades (TB) and were shut out, 7-0. The game was delayed over two hours by rain and when the teams finally took the field, it appeared the Spinners bats stayed in the clubhouse. Meanwhile, Hunter Cervenka did not make it out of the third, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits in 2.1 innings with 5 walks and 2 strikeouts. Cervenka gave way to Braden Kapteyn, whose control was no better. He could only finish the inning and didn't allow a hit, but did give up 2 more runs on 4 walks. The lone Lowell hits came from Drew Turocy and Jayson Hernandez.
It was a wild one in the Gulf Coast League as the Red Sox played the first of two against the GCL Orioles (BAL) and fell in game one, 11-10. Starter Sergio Gomez lasted just 1.0 inning before coming out. He allowed 2 runs (1 earned) in his outing. The Red Sox fell behind 4-0 but scored three in the fifth, with two runs coming off the bat of Kendrick Perkins with a single. Down 6-3, the Red Sox battled back to tie it with one in the seventh and two in the eighth. Nick Moore singled in the first run and Aneury Tavarez hit a two-run homer to tie it. But the Orioles scored three runs in the bottom half to take the lead right back. Needing three to tie it in the ninth, the Red Sox did one better and scored four runs. Three of them came on a Jordan Weems double, while the go-ahead run came courtesy of a Zach Kapstein double. But it was not to be in this one, as the Orioles scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth off of Yunior Ortega for the victory.
Game two was a little less exciting, but still provided the same result in the win-loss column for the Red Sox as they lost by a score of 6-1. Zachary Good got the start and yielded 2 runs on 5 hits in 3.0 innings of work, but the damage was done off of Alexander Mateo. In his 2.1 innings of work, he gave up 4 runs and 8 hits with all 4 runs coming in the sixth inning. The lone Red Sox run came in the second on an RBI single by Oscar Perez.
Two late runs did in the DSL Red Sox, as they were defeated by the DSL Indians (CLE), 5-3. The game was tied 3-3 going into the eighth inning, when the Indians scored a pair of runs off of Ricardo Betancourt, who lost his first decision of the season to fall to 7-1. Jair Bogaerts hit a solo home run, while the other two RBIs came from a Roberto Duncan double. Pedro Reyes did not get a decision but pitched well, firing 6.0 innings and allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts.
Player of the Night: Alex Hassan, who went 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in Portland's 9-2 victory over Akron.