PawSox Win Opener

PAWTUCKET- Experience does count for something.

It was all good for the Pawtucket Red Sox in their season opener tonight as they rode the right arm of Barolo Colon to defeat the Indianapolis Indians 3-0 before a sellout crowd of 10,681 at McCoy.

Colon pitched five strong innings facing only one batter over the minimum to get the win. He gave up only one hit, a liner to right by Adam Boeve in the second.

“The way I pitched today, I felt I had control” he said through an interpreter, “I thought I pitched particularly well. I felt I was consistent throughout the whole game.”

PawSox Manager Ron Johnson said he could not have asked for more from his Opening Day starter.

"He commanded all his stuff. He looked like a very experienced, veteran pitcher." Johnson said.

"The ball was moving everywhere." said catcher George Kottaras. "He shook me off a few times when he felt we weren't on the same page but overall we worked well together."

Colon struck out five and walked only one. He threw 74 pitches, 45 for strikes. He consistently had his fastball in the low to mid 90’s, topping out at 96mph in the third. His last pitch came in at 95mph.

Was this his one and only Pawtucket appearance? Colon says it’s too early to tell.

“I know I’ll be pitching again in five days. Not sure if it will be here or with the big club.” he said. “I want to make sure I’m ready to perform. I don’t want to have to come back down if I don’t have to.”

The PawSox scored all their runs in the third. DH Jeff Bailey led off with a single to left. Center fielder Jonathan Van Every made his PawSox debut a memorable one by launching an opposite field homer to left to give Pawtucket a 2-0 lead.

"Hopefully I didn't spoil the fans thinking I'm going to do this every time" said Van Every. "It was nice to get the first one out of the way."

After two outs, the PawSox struck for more. Jed Lowrie walked, Chris Carter belted a single to right, sending Lowrie to third. Brandon Moss then followed with a double down the first base line to make it 3-0.

The PawSox also received strong pitching from Craig Hansen and Dan Kolb. Lee Gronkiewicz pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

The series with the Indians continues Friday night at 7:05pm as David Pauley gets his first start for Pawtucket against the Indians' Ty Taubenheim.

Box Score