Cup of Coffee: Doyle, Hamilton help PawSox complete sweep

4/8 Cup of Coffee: Pawtucket continued its hot start to the 2013 season, completing a four-game sweep of their rivals. Portland and Salem fell in close contests, while Greenville was blanked by Charleston.

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The PawSox continued their early season domination, defeating the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY), 6-2, and completing a four-game opening series sweep. Terry Doyle (pictured) received the victory in his Pawtucket debut, tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and five walks while striking out five.

Mark Hamilton put the PawSox on the board in the second with a two-out RBI double. Ryan Lavarnway's two-RBI single and Drew Sutton's sacrifice fly in the third gave Pawtucket a comfortable 4-0 advantage. Justin Henry and Hamilton would add RBI singles that further padded the PawSox lead. Hamilton led all batters with three hits, as Pawtucket went 5 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

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After being unable to play yesterday, Portland was rattled by the Trenton Thunder (NYY) offense, 9-7. Kyle Kaminska's Sea Dogs debut did not go as planned, as the right-hander allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings pitched. Reliever Miguel Celestino also had a rough outing, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings. Daniel Bard added a clean inning out of the bullpen, striking out one.

Down 5-0 midway through the fourth inning, Michael Almanzar hit a solo home run to put Portland on the board. In the fifth, Derrik Gibson and Shannon Wilkerson hit back-to-back solo home runs to cut Trenton's lead to 5-3. The teams each plated two runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with Almanzar adding another solo home run. Almanzar, Gibson and Xander Bogaerts each had two hits to pace the Portland offense.

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Salem remained winless as they dropped yet another close contest, 3-1, to the Frederick Keys (BAL) in 10 innings. Kyle Stroup pitched well in his five innings of work, allowing just three hits and a walk, while punching out two. The Red Sox scored their lone run of the game in the first inning, receiving a two-out RBI single from Garin Cecchini.

Robby Scott received the loss, as he gave up a walkoff two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Scott tossed one inning of relief, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. 

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After a doubleheader the previous day, the Greenville Drive's offense could not get into gear, as they were blanked by the Charleston RiverDogs (NYY), 5-0. Brian Johnson received the loss despite pitching decently. Johnson allowed one run on six hits and a walk, while striking out two in four innings. Francisco Taveras relieved Johnson and hurled five innings of relief, allowing four runs on five hits and punching out three. The Drive mustered just three hits, two doubles, and were 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position. This start was Johnson's first since being injured last August during Futures at Fenway.

Player of the Day: Making his first regular season start as a member of the Red Sox organization, local product Terry Doyle helped Pawtucket complete a rare four-game sweep of the rival Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Doyle, 27, tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. After a stellar 2012 season as a member of the Charlotte Knights (CHW), Doyle is looking to have an impressive start to his 2013 campaign as he works toward his dream of pitching at Fenway Park.

Photo credit: Terry Doyle by Kelly O'Connor

John Gray is a Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com.

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