Cup of Coffee: Great night for affiliate pitching

4/19 Cup of Coffee: The affiliates picked up three wins, where pitchers' duels for Pawtucket, Portland, and Greenville let prospects shine.

Matt Barnes (Kelly O'Connor)

The PawSox bats came alive in the eleventh inning, tallying 5 runs to beat the Syracuse Chiefs (WAS) 6-1 at Alliance Bank Stadium. Before the tie broke open in extra innings, the game was dead-locked in a pitchers' duel. Pawtucket RHP Aaron Cook started on the mound and pitched for 8 innings, only giving up 2 hits, 1 run, and 4 walks. Clayton Mortensen came in for Cook in the ninth and pitched 2 innings with only 1 hit and no walks. Mortensen was credited with the win, his first of the season. In the eleventh, Chorye Spoon took the mound for Pawtucket and recorded 2 hits, but got out the inning with no one scoring. On the offensive side, both teams were quiet at the plate. Pawtucket shut down Syracuse batters with the trio of Cook, Mortensen, and Spoon allowing only 5 hits. Their lone run of the game came when they batted a runner in from third on a ground out. The PawSox answered in the sixth, when Will Middlebrooks blasted a solo home run to tie the game 1-1. The tie forced extra innings, and in the eleventh, Pawtucket ran ahead. The scoring started when Jon Hee walked in a bases-loaded situation, scoring Josh Kroeger. Then, Che-Hsuan Lin doubled, scoring Alex Hassan, Tony Thomas, and Hee. Ryan Lavarnway then singled scoring Lin, and giving Pawtucket a 5-1 advantage.

Portland rallied from a 1 run deficit in the bottom of the ninth in a 2-1 walk-off win against the New Britain Rock Cats (MIN). The Rock Cats put up 1 run in the first frame, but would be unable to score again after that. Sea Dogs starter Chris Hernandez pitched 5.2 innings with allowing only 3 hits, 1 run, and striking out 8. Hernandez was relieved in the fifth by Charlie Rosario who pitched the remaining 3.1 innings of the game. Rosario, who picked up his first win of the season, gave up no hits, no runs, and threw only 1 walk in his outing. At the plate, it was a slow night for Portland. They recorded only 3 hits in the first eight innings. However, they tied the game in the ninth when Oscar Tejada doubled, scoring Derrik Gibson. Ronald Bermudez then singled, scoring Kolbrin Vitek for the walk-off win.

The Salem Red Sox fell 11-9 to the Lynchburg Hillcats (ATL) in an offensive showdown at LewisGale Field. Salem started the night on the right foot, scoring 3 runs in the first. Jackie Bradley, Brandon Jacobs, and Travis Shaw all scored to take the 3-0 lead. Lynchburg was unable to answer until the fourth, when they batted in 4 runs against Salem pitcher Drake Britton. The Red Sox answered with their own 4 run inning in the bottom of the fourth, making the score 7-4. Britton got into more trouble in the fifth inning, when he gave up a pair of homers for 3 runs, tying the game at 7. In total, Britton pitched for 4 innings, giving up 6 hits, 7 runs, and 2 walks. Scott Swinson, who was credited with the loss, came out in the sixth inning to replace Britton and retired the Hillcats batters, but wasn't so lucky in the seventh. Lynchburg recorded another 4 run inning, and with 2 outs and the score 11-9, Andrew Jones came in to relieve Swinson. Jones shut down the Hillcats' batters for the rest of the night, pitching 2.1 innings with 2 hits, no walks, and 2 strikeouts.

Greenville pitching combined for 8 innings of scoreless pitching in a 4-2 win on the road over the Lexington Legends (HOU). RHP Matt Barnes started for The Drive and shut down offensive attempts by The Legends, pitching 6 innings, with 3 hits, no walks, and 9 strikeouts. Jason Garcia took the mound in the seventh, and was scoreless for two innings, but then let up 2 runs, including 1 home run, in the ninth. On the offensive side, Greenville took the lead when they recorded 3 runs in the top of the sixth. Henry Ramos singled with the bases loaded to score Blake Swihart and Garin Cecchini. Keury De La Cruz also singled, scoring Boss Monaroa. The Drive didn't score again until the top of the ninth when David Renfroe hit a solo home run to make the score 4-2. In total, The Drive combined for 6 hits, with Blake Swihart being the only batter multiple hits.

Player of the Night: Matt Barnes, who pitched 6 scoreless innings for the Drive. Barnes gave up only 3 hits and struck out 9 in his second win of the season.

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