Cup of Coffee: Late double leads Pawtucket to victory

5/10 Cup of Coffee: Pawtucket needed some late heroics to come away with a victory, Portland could not handle the Thunder, Salem was cooled off by the Nationals, and some bad defense allowed the game to slip away from the Drive. 

Nate Spears
(Dave Letizi)

Pawtucket won a back-and-forth game with the Rochester Red Wings (MIN), 7-6. After a home run put the Red Wings up 1-0 in the first, the PawSox responded with three runs in the second. Doubles by Josh Kroeger and Nate Spears, and a balk by the Rochester starter helped the PawSox take the lead. The Red Wings responded with three runs of their own in the third off of PawSox starter Brandon Duckworth. Duckworth threw 5.0 innings allowing 5 runs on 7 hits. The PawSox got Duckworth off the hook in the bottom of the fifth by scoring two runs to tie the game. Spears, who went 3 for 3, roped another double and came in to score on a Tony Thomas triple. Thomas then scored on a Che-Hsuan Lin sacrifice fly. The Red Wings took a one-run lead in the top of the seventh, but with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Mauro Gomez hit a two-run double to give the PawSox the lead. With runners on first and third in the ninth, Mark Melancon was brought in, and he got a swinging strikeout to end the game. 

It was a rough night in Portland, as the Sea Dogs were shut out by the Trenton Thunder (NYY), 7-0. Sea Dogs starter Chris Martin was chased from the game after allowing 5 runs on 7 hits in only 2.0 innings. Reliever Jeremy Kehrt threw the next 4.0 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, walking none and striking out 4. Will Latimer was the only pitcher who was able to silence the Thunder, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings. Ryan Dent and Reynaldo Rodriguez led the offense, each going 1 for 3 with a walk.

Jackie Bradley, Jr. only had one hit as Salem fell to Potomac Nationals (WAS), 5-2. A three-run home run for the Nationals in the second inning off of Ryan Pressly proved to be the difference. Pressly threw 6.0 innings, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits. He did settle down after the home run, but the wheels fell off in the fifth inning when he allowed three more hits, with each coming around to score. Salem scored its two runs in the fifth when Sean Coyle doubled to score Bradley, and then Brandon Jacobs singled Coyle home. Jacobs finished the game going 2 for 3 with a walk. Xander Bogaerts also had a good showing, going 1 for 2 with 2 walka and a strikeout. 

Bad defense by the Drive helped the Augusta GreenJackets (SF) cruise to a 9-2 victory. The game was scoreless until the fifth, when the Drive tacked on two runs with RBI singles from Garin Cecchini and Boss Moanaroa. Drive starter Jason Garcia lost his control in the bottom of the fifth. He walked three batters, including one with the bases loaded, and he was pulled after throwing 4.1 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, while walking 5 and striking out 3. The sixth inning was not kind to the Drive, as two errors led to six unearned runs scoring off of reliever Matty Ott. After an error, walk, and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with two outs, the GreenJackets batter connected for a grand slam to blow the game open. Offensively Cecchini and Bryan Johns each had two hits, with Johns also adding a walk.

Player of the Day: Nate Spears went 3 for 3 with two doubles to help lead the PawSox to the only win for the affiliates on the night.

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