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April 12, 2012 at 9:01 AM

Cup of Coffee: Slow night at the plate for affiliates


Brandon Jacobs (Kelly O'Connor)
4/12 Cup of Coffee: Each Red Sox affiliate faced tough pitching last night, with Pawtucket, Portland, and Salem each recording only one run.

Pitching dominated the game for the Rochester Red Wings (MIN) and PawSox in a 2-1 loss on the road. Both teams had good performances on the mound, but the Red Wings won the pitcher's duel thanks to 6 shutout innings from SP Scott Diamond.  PawSox starter Justin Germano gave up 2 runs early in the game, but otherwise had a good showing, pitching 5 innings with only 6 hits and no walks. Germano was replaced in the 6th inning with Tony Pena Jr. who pitched three shutout innings of relief, with 2 hits, no walks, and 3 strikeouts. The lone run for Pawtucket came in the 8th inning when Ryan Lavarnway hit a 2-out double, followed by another double by Mauro Gomez. Lavarnway was the only PawSox player to have 2 or more hits, and 5 Pawtucket batters went hitless in the game.

The Sea Dogs couldn't catch a break in their last game of a road series against the Trenton Thunder (NYY) in a 10-1 loss. Trenton combined dominant pitching and hitting in their dominant showing over Portland. Sea Dogs' starter Chris Martin, who pitched for 4.2 innings with 3 hits, 2 runs, and 1 walk got the game off to a good start, shutting out Thunder batters for the first 3 innings. After that, he started to run into trouble when he let up a run in both the 4th and 5th innings. Will Latimer came on for Martin with two outs in the 5th, but didn't help keep The Thunder at bay. Latimer pitched 2.2 innings with 6 hits and 5 runs, all of them earned. He was replaced in the 8th by Michael Lee who gave up 3 hits and 3 runs in that inning.  At the plate, the Sea Dogs didn't fare much better thanks to dominant pitching into the 7th inning by Trenton starter Shaeffer Hall. Portland recorded their only tally of the night when Oscar Tejada scored off of a Ryan Dent sac fly. 6 Sea Dogs had hits, with Tejada having the only multi-hit game.

Salem fell to the Lynchburg Hillcats (ATL), who recorded their 5th consecutive win, in a 4-1 loss at Lynchburg City Stadium. Red Sox starter Keith Couch began the game with a dominating presence, retiring the first 6 batters in order. However, he couldn't hold on and gave up 4 hits for 3 runs in the 3rd inning. He gave up another run in the 4th and stayed on to finish out the top of the 5th inning. Andrew Jones came on to pitch in the 6th inning and combined with closer Michael Olmsted to pitch three scoreless innings of relief. Salem was another victim or dominant opponent pitching.  Red Sox batters recorded a total of 6 hits in the game with 3 of them coming from LF Brandon Jacobs.

The Hickory Crawdads (TEX) struck early with 3 runs in the 1st that left Greenville chasing them the rest of the game in a 5-3 loss at home. Right away, Crawdads' batters were able to hit Greenville's starter, RHP Luis Diaz who pitched for 5 innings, with 6 hits and 1 walk. He caught his stride and was scoreless in the next three innings, but let up one more run in the 5th. Nefi Ogando came on in the 6th to pitch 2 innings, recording only 1 hit, no runs, and 1 walk.  Justin Erasmus took the mound to begin the 8th, and pitched the remainder of the game, giving up just 2 hits for 1 run and 1 walk. The Drive had the most successful night at the plate out of all the Red Sox farm teams. They recorded their first tally of the night in the 3rd inning when Lucas Leblanc scored on a fielding error after Hickory pitcher Luke Jackson walked the first 3 batters of the inning. Greenville scored again in the 4th when Keury De La Cruz crossed the plate thanks to a Jose Vinicio ground out. The Drive attempted to rally in the 8th and recorded one run when David Renfroe doubled and was driven in by Henry Ramos, but ultimately came up short.

Player of the Day: Brandon Jacobs, who had three hits in Salem's loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats.  Jacobs batted 3-4 with a double, two singles, and a stolen base.