June 14, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Anthony Ranaudo ties Portland record with 13 Ks
6/14 Cup of Coffee: Xander Bogaerts’ Triple-A debut got rained out, as did Salem’s doubleheader, but right-hander Anthony Ranaudo (pictured) was nothing short of dominant in Portland, fanning 13 batters to tie a franchise record last accomplished by Jon Lester in 2005.
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The Sea Dogs, powered by Ranaudo’s 7 2/3 sparkling innings, shut out the Erie SeaWolves (DET), 2-0, in their first game without Bogaerts.
Eight of Ranaudo’s first nine outs came via the strikeout, and although the fanning slowed down from there, the tall righty hardly ran into any trouble on the night. He gave up just two hits and two walks, while throwing 74 percent of his pitches (77 of 104) for strikes.
After Ranaudo issued his second walk of the night with two outs in the eighth, right-hander Brock Huntzinger pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to record his 13th save.
The Sea Dogs plated a run in the first, courtesy of a Michael Almanzar double, then another in the eighth on the third baseman’s sacrifice fly. Almanzar was 3 for 3 on the night.
Center fielder Shannon Wilkerson went 2 for 4 with a run scored.
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Luis Diaz and the Greenville Drive fell behind early and never recovered, dropping a 9-4 decision to the Savannah Sand Gnats (NYM). The right-hander gave up five runs, all earned, on seven hits and a walk in six innings to take the loss.
Right-hander Greg Larson didn’t provide much relief, with the Sand Gnats scoring four more times on six hits in his two innings of work.
Before Savannah put the game out of reach, though, the Drive made a spirited run in the sixth. Left fielder Kevin Heller tripled to plate Jayson Hernandez and Dreily Guerrero, both of whom had singled. Heller then scored on a passed ball.
Heller was the only Greenville player to collect multiple hits, however, and all the team could muster the rest of the way was a David Chester sacrifice fly in the eighth.
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The DSL Red Sox scored three runs in the final two innings to come from behind and beat the DSL Royals, 5-4, for their fourth straight win. Right fielder Franklin Guzman’s eighth-inning RBI groundout scored Luis Alejandro Basabe to give the Sox the lead.
Left fielder Anthony Amaya was 3 for 4 with a triple and a RBI, while first baseman Darwin Pena was 2 for 5 with a run scored and a RBI of his own.
Southpaw Dedgar Jimenez and a pair of righties, Enfember Martinez and Daniel Gonzalez, went three innings each, with Jimenez giving up all four runs (two earned).
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Player of the Night: Anthony Ranaudo, who had the most dominant outing the Portland Sea Dogs have seen all season. He struck out 13, while allowing two hits and two walks in 7 2/3 shutout innings to collect his seventh win and lower is ERA to 2.15. It was particularly impressive because his last time out, June 4, the 6-foot-7, 231-pounder got lit up for seven runs in 4 2/3 against Erie — the same team he faced Wednesday. Since his only loss of the season (May 7), Ranaudo owns a 2.65 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, with that early June clunker representing the only outlier.
Photo Credit: Anthony Ranaudo by Kelly O'Connor.