Cup of Coffee: PawSox pitchers star in shutout

6/15 Cup of Coffee: The PawSox blanked the Bisons, and Salem battled for a win against Carolina. Meanwhile, The Sea Dogs were blanked by Bowie, Greenville dropped two to Augusta, and the DSL Red Sox suffered a crushing loss to the DSL Mets2.

Doug Mathis (Kelly O'Connor)

The PawSox blanked the Buffalo Bisons (NYM) 5-0. Pawtucket pitchers Doug Mathis, Daniel Bard, and Garrett Mock combined for the shutout and together allowed only 4 hits on the night. The starter, Mathis, pitched 6 innings with 4 hits, no runs, and 1 walk. He improved his record to 5-3. Bard took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and pitched 2 innings with no hits, no runs, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Mock came on in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game and pitched 1 inning with 1 hit, no runs, no walks, and 2 strikeouts. Until the sixth inning, the only baserunner the Paw Sox had had was Ryan Lavarnway who drew a walk in the top of the fourth. That changed when Pedro Ciriaco singled in the top of the sixth to end the no-hitter, followed by a base on balls for Josh Kroeger. Lavarnway then blasted a three-run homer to right field to give the PawSox the lead. In the eighth inning, Ciriaco doubled but advanced to third on a fielding error. Kroeger followed with a single that drove in Ciriaco. Che-Hsuan Lin drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth and reached third base after a throwing error on a pick-off attempt. Tony Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Lin. In total, the PawSox had 5 hits on the night, 2 of them belonging to Ciriaco.

The Sea Dogs fell to the Baysox (BAL) 2-0, their third straight loss in Bowie. Portland batters struggled for a second night, only managing 1 hit in the game, a single belonging to Matt Spring in the top of the second. Starter Chris Hernandez threw for 6 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks. He was credited with the loss, making his record 3-6 on the season. Brock Huntzinger took the mound in the bottom of the seventh, and gave a solid outing. Huntzinger pitched 2 innings with 1 hit, no runs, and no walks.

The Red Sox duked it out with the Carolina Mudcats (CLE) and came out on top 4-3. Salem batters scored first, putting up 2 runs in the bottom of the second. Christian Vazquez reached base on a walk, followed by a single from Sean Coyle. Heiker Meneses then singled, scoring Vazquez and advancing Coyle to third. This was followed up by Jackie Bradley grounding out but advancing the batters, allowing Coyle to score. Michael Almanzar singled to begin the bottom of the fourth, followed by a Vazquez double that drove in Almanzar. Meneses singled to drive in Vazquez and make the score 4-0. Salem starter Matt Barnes didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, where he gave up a double and a single, allowing 1 run. Barnes pitched 5 innings for 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts. He was awarded the win and his record with Salem improved to 5-1. Jeremiah Bayer took the mound in the top of the sixth. He allowed 1 hit in that inning, and 1 hit in the top of the seventh before being replaced with 2 out and 1 on by Andrew Jones. Bayer threw 1.2 innings with 2 hits, no runs, and no walks. Jones came on and ended the inning by striking out the next batter. Jones gave up two singles to begin the top of the eighth, followed by a fielding error that drove in a run. He got out of the inning without anymore harm. Jones reappeared for the top of the ninth and pitched 2.1 innings in total, with 2 hits, 2 runs, and no walks. Salem batters had 7 hits on the night, 2 of which belong to Meneses.

The Drive fell 4-3 to the Augusta GreenJackets (SF) in game one of a doubleheader. A seventh inning 4-run rally by Augusta stole the shutout from the Drive. Starter Mickey Pena had another strong outing for Greenville, pitching 5 shutout innings with 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. He was replaced in the bottom of the sixth by Nefi Ogando who gave up the lead in the seventh inning. He let up a single to begin the inning, walked a batter, and gave up another single to load the bases. The next batter grounded into a force-out but let in another run, followed by another walk that loaded the bases for the second time that inning. Then a two-out double drove in two runs, giving Augusta the walk off win. Ogando pitched 1.2 innings with 4 hits, 4 runs, 4 errors, and 2 walks. He was credited with the blown save and the loss. On the offensive side, the Drive scored a run in each of the first three innings. Jason Repko reached with a triple in the first inning. This was followed by a single from Drew Turocy that drove him in. In the second inning, Blake Swihart reached base on a throwing error. A passed ball during the next at bat advanced Swihart to third, and he scored when Lucas Leblanc put up a sacrifice fly to left field. In the bottom of the third, Repko singled, followed by a base on balls for Turocy and David Renfroe reaching on a fielding error to load the bases. Boss Moanaroa put up a sacrifice fly to score Repko. In total, the GreenJackets out-batted the Drive 6-5. Repko and Turocy each had 2 hits for Greenville.

Augusta took an early lead in game two, but the Drive couldn't battle back in a 6-1 loss. The game got off to a rocky start for Greenville pitcher Jason Garcia who gave up 3 hits for 2 runs in the bottom of the first. He then gave up 4 hits and a walk for 4 runs in the bottom of the second. Garcia pitched 2 innings with 7 hits, 6 runs, 6 errors, and a walk. Raynel Velette took the mound in the bottom of the third, and pitched three perfect innings with no hits, no runs, no walks, and 5 strikeouts. Michael McCarthy came out for the Drive in the bottom of the sixth pitched 1 inning with 1 hit, no runs, and no walks. On the offensive end, Greenville's lone run of the game came in the top of the first when Cody Koback reached base on a walk, was advanced to second when Garin Cecchini was hit by a pitch, and scored on a Henry Ramos single. In total, Drive batters had 6 hits on the night, two belonging to both Ramos and Jose Garcia.

The DSL Red Sox were blown out by the DSL Mets2 (NYM) 12-1. Red Sox starter Dioscar Romero gave up a run in both the first and second innings and pitched 2 innings total with 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks. He was credited with the loss, making his record 0-1. Edinxon Pacheco took the mound for the Red Sox in the third where he gave up 3 runs, and came back out in the fourth where he gave up a homer and walked another batter before being replaced with no outs and one on by Wildyn Florian. Pacheco pitched 1 inning with 3 hits, 5 runs, 5 errors, and 2 walks. Florian lasted 2 innings with 4 hits, 3 runs, and 2 walks. William Gonzalez replaced Florian in the bottom of the sixth, and was the only Red Sox pitcher to not give up any runs. Gonzalez pitched 2 innings with 2 hits, no runs, and 2 walks. German Taveras was the last Red Sox pitcher, coming on in the bottom of the eighth, and pitching 1 inning with 1 hit, 2 runs, and 1 walk. The Red Sox got their only hit of the game in the top of the third inning when Andres Garcia reached base on a double and was driven in on a Robert Del Rosario double. The Red Sox were outhit 12-6 by the Mets2 in the contest. Garcia led the Red Sox with 3 hits.

Player of the Night: Doug Mathis, who had a great start for the PawSox, throwing six shutout innings while allowing just 4 hits and 1 walk.

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