Cup of Coffee: Greenville pitchers struggle in 15-5 loss

6/7 Cup of Coffee: The Drive's pitching staff couldn't find their stride Wednesday night in a 15-5 loss on the road. Meanwhile Pawtucket, Portland, and Salem all picked up wins.

The PawSox battled back and forth with the Indianapolis Indians (PIT) and came out on top 6-5. It looked like trouble early on for Partucket when pitcher Billy Buckner let up three runs in the top of the first. The PawSox put up two runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Nate Spears reached base on a walk, advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and stole third base. Ryan Kalish also drew a walk, followed by a force out attempt on Ryan Lavarnway that allowed Spears and Kalish to score. The Indians increased their lead in the top of the fourth with another run against Buckner. Pawtucket answered with Mauro Gomez reaching on a walk, advancing to third on a Josh Kroeger double, and Gomez scoring on a wild pitch. Buckner came out of the game after the fourth inning, having pitched 4.0 innings for 7 hits, 4 runs, 4 errors, and 3 walks. He was replaced in the top of the fifth by Tony Pena Jr., who gave up 2 hits, a run, and 2 walks in 0.2 innings before being replaced by Junichi Tazawa. Kalish and Lavarnway blasted back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5. Tazawa stayed on the mound through the sixth and pitched 1.1 innings for no hits, no runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. From there, Pawtucket had a series of one-inning pitchers starting with Will Inman. Inman came out in the seventh and threw for no hits, no runs, and 1 walk. Garrett Mock, who was credited with the win, took the mound in the eighth, with no hits, no runs, no walks, and 2 strikeouts. The PawSox broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth when Lars Anderson reached base on a fielding error, stole second base, reached third on a throwing error, and scored on a Che-Hsuan Lin single. Mark Melancon took the mound in the ninth, and pitched a perfect inning to end the game. Pawtucket batters had 7 hits on the night, with Lin and Kalish each picking up 2.

A five-run first inning helped to lead Portland to an 8-5 win over the Bowie Baysox (BAL). Sea Dogs starter Stomly Pimentel gave up one run to the Baysox in the top of the first. Portland answered with five runs. Oscar Tejada started things off with a single, followed by single from J.C. Linares. Reynaldo Rodriguez drew a walk to load the bases, and Bryce Brentz singled to score Tejada and Linares. With Brentz and Rodriguez on base, Dan Butler smacked a three-run homer. Bowie answered with 3 runs off of Pimentel in the top of the second. The Sea Dogs put up another run in the bottom half of that frame when Heiker Meneses singled, advanced to second on a Tejada single, and scored on a single by Linares. Bats for both teams would be quiet until the bottom of the seventh when Shannon Wilkerson reached base on a single and scored on a Tejada double. Linares singled to send Tejada to third, followed by a Rodriguez double that drove in a run. Pimentel had come out of the game after the fourth inning, having thrown 4.0 innings for 4 hits, 4 runs, and 4 walks. He was replaced in the fifth by Marco Duarte, who picked up his first win with the Sea Dogs since being promoted from Salem. Duarte pitched 3.0 scoreless innings with 2 hits, and 1 walk. Brock Huntzinger took the mound for the Sea Dogs in the eighth, and gave up 1 run in the ninth but ultimately had a good showing, pitching 2.0 innings for 1 hit, 1 run, and 2 walks. Portland batters had 12 hits on the night, with Linares and Tejada each contributing 3.

Travis Shaw (Dave Letizi)

Salem hosted the Winston-Salem Dash (CWS) in a 4-1 victory at LewisGale Field. The Red Sox picked up the first runs of the game in the bottom of the third. Drew Hedman started things off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and headed to third base when Adalberto Ibarra grounded out. Matty Johnson drew a walk, followed by Sean Coyle loading up the bases when he was hit by a pitch. Travis Shaw doubled to score all three base runners, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Winston-Salem picked up their only run of the game in the top of the fifth off of Salem starter Miguel Celestino. He pitched 6 innings with 4 hits, 1 run, and 2 walks. Andrew Jones took the mound for Salem in the seventh, and pitched 2 innings with 2 hits, no runs, and no walks. The Red Sox picked up their last run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when Xander Bogaerts blasted a solo home run. Michael Olmstead took the mound in the ninth and closed out the game with no hits, no runs, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Despite the 4-1 score, the Dash out hit the Red Sox 6-5.

Greenville picked up their third loss in a row when they fell to the Rome Braves (ATL) 15-5 on the road. The Drive started things off in the first when Jose Garcia drew a walk, then stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. Garin Cecchini singled to drive in Garcia, and Cecchini stole second, advancing to third on a wild pitch. Drew Turocy singled to drive in Cecchini, followed by a Blake Swihart double that allowed Turocy to score. Rome answered with three runs of their own against Drive starter Yeiper Castillo in the bottom of the frame. The tie held until the bottom of the fifth inning when Castillo started to get into trouble. He gave up four hits, and had a throwing error for 4 runs before being replaced with only 1 out in the inning before being replaced by Justin Erasmus. A sacrifice fly put up another run against Castillo, but Erasmus got the 2 outs to end the inning. In total, Castillo pitched 4.1 innings with 8 hits, 8 runs, 5 errors, and a walk. Erasmus returned to the mound for the sixth inning but gave up two more runs to the Braves, he came back out in the seventh and let up a double and a walk and was replaced with no outs by Mike McCarthy. With McCarthy pitching, two runs scored that were credited to Erasmus as well as one of his own. Erasmus pitched 1.2 innings with 4 hits, 4 runs, 4 errors, and 1 walk. McCarthy threw for 1 inning with 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Tyler Lockwood took the mound for Greenville in the bottom of the eighth and let up two more runs to make the score 15-3. Lockwood pitched 1 inning with 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. The Drive attempted a rally in the top of the ninth, putting up 2 runs. Bryan Johns pinch hit for Jose Vinicio and singled, followed by a single from Keury De La Cruz. Cecchini also singled to load the bases, followed by a single from Boss Moanaroa that scored Johns. Turocy grounded out, but drove in De La Cruz. Swihart struck out to end the game. The Drive put up 12 hits on the night, 3 of them belonging to Cecchini.

Player of the Night: Travis Shaw, who's third inning double drove in 3 runs to help Salem win 4-1 over the the Winston-Salem Dash. Shaw went 1-for-3 with 3 RBI and a walk. 

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