Cup of Coffee: Barnes strikes out 12 in Salem debut

5/6 Cup of Coffee: Matt Barnes shined in his Salem debut helping lead the Red Sox to victory. Pawtucket and Greenville also picked up wins, while Portland was shut out.

Matt Barnes (Kelly O'Connor)

Pawtucket took the lead early and held off a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (NYY) rally to win 9-3 on the road. The PawSox crossed the plate first when Daniel Nava doubled to score Nate Spears. They had a five run second inning, thanks to a Che-Hsuan Lin homer that also scored Josh Kroeger, Spears scoring again off of a Nava single, and a Lars Anderson double that drove in Jose Iglesias and Nava. Pawtucket also picked up a run in both the third when Mike Rivera scored after a passed ball, and in the fourth when Mauro Gomez doubled to score Anderson. Pitcher Brandon Duckworth kept the Yankees scoreless through 5 innings, but was replaced during the sixth inning by Chorye Spoone. Duckworth picked up his fourth win of the season and pitched 5.2 innings for 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts. Spoone came on with 2 outs and 1 on in the sixth, and made it out of the inning scoring 1 run that was credited to Duckworth. The PawSox struck again in the top of the seventh when Gomez homered to add another tally and make the lead 9-1. Spoone came back out on the mound for the seventh, but ran into trouble when he gave up an error and a hit to let a run score. He was replaced with 1 out and 2 on by Will Inman. In total, Spoone pitched 0.2 innings with 2 hits, 1 run, and 3 walks. Inman ended the seventh and came back on the mound for the eighth, where he let 1 run score before striking out the next three batters. Inman pitched 1.2 innings of relief with 2 hits, 1 run, no walks, and 4 strikeouts. Mark Melancon came on in the ninth for Pawtucket, and threw 1 inning with 2 hits, no runs, and no walks. All but two PawSox batters had hits on the night, with Nava recording the most with 3.

The Sea Dogs were shut out by the New Britain Rock Cats (MIN) 5-0 in a loss on the road. New Britain took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, with a triple that scored 2 runs against Portland starter Chris Hernandez. Hernandez, who was credited with the loss, pitched 5 innings with 2 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks. He was replaced in the sixth inning by Brock Huntzinger, who ran into some trouble on the mound. Letting 3 runs score on 4 hits. Huntzinger pitched 1 inning for 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 errors, and no walks. Eammon Portice took the mound for the Sea Dogs in the seventh, and pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no runs, and 1 walk. On the offensive side, Portland only recorded 4 hits on the night. Reynaldo Rodriguez and Dan Butler each had one, while Ronald Bermudez had 2.

A 5 run third inning helped secure the win for the Salem Red Sox over the Winston-Salem Dash (CHW) 6-4 on the road. Travis Shaw picked up three RBI's in the third inning when he doubled to score Shannon Wilkerson, Jackie Bradley, and Sean Coyle. After that, Brandon Jacobs singled to drive in Shaw, and Jacobs scored on fielding errors after he stole second base. The Red Sox picked up one more run in the seventh fifth inning when Jacobs grounded out, but drove in Bradley. Salem starter Matt Barnes let up the Dash's first run in the sixth. Barnes had a great outing, throwing 6 innings with 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 12 strikeouts. He was replaced in the seventh by Jeremiah Beyer. Beyer ran into trouble in the eighth inning letting a run score after a hit batter, a walk, and a fielding error. He was replaced with 1 out by Andrew Jones, but two more of Beyer's runs crossed the plate before the inning was over. In total, Beyer threw for 1.1 innings with 1 hit, 3 runs, and 1 walk. Jones came back out for the ninth, and got 2 out before letting 2 men on base and was replaced by Michael Olmstead who got the last Winston-Salem batter out and ended the game. Jones pitched 1.1 innings for 2 hits, no runs, and 1 walk, and Olmstead threw 0.1 with no hits, no runs, and no walks. Red Sox batters recorded 5 hits to the Dash's 7, but somehow managed to come off with the win.

A three run homer by David Renfroe helped boost Greenville to a 6-3 victory over the Rome Braves (ATL) at Fluor Field. The Drive put up a run in the first, when Garin Cecchini reached on a fielders choice, scoring Bryan Johns. They drove in another in the second when Lucas LeBlanc crossed the plate on a Nick Natoli single. The Braves got their first run of the game in the fourth inning when pitcher Yeiper Castillo let up a solo home run. Castillo pitched 6 innings with just 2 hits, 1 run, and 3 walks. Renfroe came up big for the Drive in the fifth inning, blasting a three run homer to score Keury De La Cruz and Cecchini making the score 5-1. The drive picked up one more run in the sixth when Jordan Weems doubled to score Cody Koback. Michael McCarthy took the mound for Greenville in the seventh and let up a 2 run homer. McCarthy pitched 2 innings with 4 hits, 2 runs, and 1 walk. Tyler Lockwood came out in the ninth to close out the game, pitching 1 inning with no hits, no runs, and 2 walks. Greenville batters put up 7 hits on the night, with De La Cruz and Koback each hitting 2.

Player of the Night: Matt Barnes, who struck out 12 and allowed just 1 run in his 6 inning outing for Salem. Barnes picked up his first win for the Red Sox, third overall on the season, after being promoted to Salem earlier in the week. 

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