Cup of Coffee: PawSox fall in extras, trail 2-1 in series

9/14 Cup of Coffee:  The Pawtucket Red Sox dropped the third game of the Governor's Cup final 2-0 on Friday in a marathon 14-inning contest against the Durham Bulls.

The game was scoreless for the first 14 innings as both the PawSox and the Bulls could not take advantage of scoring opportunities. While only picking up four hits, the PawSox accrued 12 walks, resulting in 17 men left on base in the game. 

The lack of offense spoiled a great performance from starter Matt Barnes, who struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Barnes surrendered only four hits and two walks. Following Barnes six pitchers out of the bullpen then combined to pitch 7 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. 

The PawSox first real scoring chance came in the fifth inning with Alex Hassan coming to bat with one out and runners on first and second base. During the course of the at bat, the runners advanced to second and third. Hassan was unable to break the tie, as he struck out swinging. Following Hassan was Mark Hamilton, who grounded out to end the inning.

In the eighth the PawSox had a runner on third with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts from Hamilton and Bryce Brentz ended the rally.  The PawSox put together a few more scoring opportunities in the eighth, ninth, 12th and 14th innings, but obviously were unable to capitalize.

Game 4 in the series will be on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6:05 p.m. at McCoy Stadium.

Player of the Day: Buried in the long game was the impressive start from Matt Barnes. The outing was likely Barnes' last of the 2013 season, during which he spent most of his time in Double-A Portland. Despite struggling a bit at the level, he posted a 4.33 ERA in 106 innings. The right-hander posted impressive strikeout numbers and earned himself a promotion to Triple-A. Barnes has improved against tougher competition, posting a 3.86 ERA in the postseason.

Photo Credit: Matt Barnes by Kelly O'Connor.

Luke Lavoie is a Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com. 

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