Cup of Coffee: Bradley's home run not enough to save Salem

5/2 Cup of Coffee: Only two affiliates saw action on Tuesday, with both Pawtucket and Salem falling victim to their opponents hot hitting. 

Jackie Bradley Jr. (Kelly O'Connor)

Pawtucket's offense was stymied until the later innings and unable to overcome an early hole as they were squashed by the Toledo Mud Hens (DET), 8-3. Doug Mathis received the loss for his 5.0 innings of work, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits and 3 walks, striking out 1. Andrew Miller tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing 2 walks while punching out 5. Alex Wilson came on in the eighth, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 1. Down 6-0 in the sixth, the PawSox finally got on the board on a Pedro Ciraco sacrifice fly, making the score 6-1 in favor of Toledo. In the eighth, Nate Spears laced a 2 RBI triple to bring Pawtucket to within 3, 6-3. The Mud Hens plated two more in the bottom half of the eighth and set the PawSox down 1-2-3 in the ninth to preserve the victory. 

Portland's contest against the Trenton Thunder (NYY) was postponed due to rain. The teams will make up the contest July 1st as part of a doubleheader. 

Salem, looking to bounce back from a loss Monday that snapped their five game winning streak, was unable to avoid giving Wilmington (KC) big innings as they fell to the Blue Rocks, 9-5. Miguel Celestino received the start for the Red Sox, tossing 4.0 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3. Manuel Rivera received the loss for his 3.0 innings of relief, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hit and 2 walks while punching out 5. Marco Duarte added an inning of relief out of the Salem bullpen, allowing 2 unearned runs on 2 hits. Jackie Bradley Jr. led off the contest with his first home run on 2012 to give the Red Sox a quick 1-0 advantage. In the second, Michael Almanzar's solo home run doubled Salem's lead, 2-0. Finding themselves trailing Wilmington 3-2 in the sixth, the Red Sox tied the contest on a Xander Bogaerts solo home run. The Blue Rocks quickly answered the Red Sox in the bottom half of the sixth, aided by a Sean Coyle throwing error and a steal of home as they plated four runs to take a 7-3 lead. Salem answered right back in the seventh, bringing home two runs on a Travis Shaw RBI double and a Brandon Jacobs RBI single to pull within two, 7-5. The Red Sox were unable to keep the game close, as they allowed Wilmington to bring home two more runs in the bottom of the eighth and wasted a golden opportunity in the ninth with two on and no outs. Bradley, Coyle, Jacobs and Bogaerts each had two hits to lead the Salem offense. 

Player of the Night: Jackie Bradley Jr., who continued his torrid start to the 2012 season with a 2 for 5 evening, smacking his first home run of 2012, picking up an RBI and scoring a run in Salem's 9-5 loss to Wilmington. Bradley is now hitting .361/.462/.518 with 10 extra base hits and 17 RBI through the Red Sox first 22 contests.  

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