Game Wraps- June 10, 2008

All the teams in the International League were slated to return to action Tuesday night. Here are the results...

The standings atop the IL North became a little tighter as the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees fell to the Richmond Braves, 8-5. Richmond broke out to an 8-0 lead and held off a late SWB comeback. BOX

The Syracuse Chiefs find themselves only 1/2 game behind Scranton after their 8-2 win at Columbus. Danny Sandoval went 4 for 4 with two RBI's to pace the Chiefs. BOX

The Indianapolis Indians scattered 11 hits in their 4-2 win over the Toledo Mud Hens. BOX

The Rochester Red Wings pounded out 15 hits in their 14-2 thrashing of the Durham Bulls. BOX

Jerry Owens went 3 for 5 with two RBI's to lead the Charlotte Knights over the Norfolk Tides, 5-2. BOX

The Buffalo Bisons and Lehigh Valley Irons Pigs were rained out.

Bats Edge Past PawSox, 8-7

Drew Anderson knocked in the go ahead run in the top of the ninth, and the Louisville bullpen held back one last Pawtucket charge, as the Bats nipped the PawSox, 8-7 tonight at McCoy. The loss was the PawSox' third in a row.

The PawSox rallied to put themselves in a position to tie or even win the game in the bottom of the ninth when, with one out, Jed Lowrie and Chris Carter singled to put two runners on against Louisville reliever Josh Roenicke. But Roenicke closed the door, retiring George Kottaras and Keith Ginter to seal the Bats' victory.

The Bats' winning run came off PawSox reliever Michael Tejera (3-4), who up until the ninth, had pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. He entered the final frame in a tie game after Jonathan Van Every knotted the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer to left center, his 12th of the year.

Neither of the team's ace starters, Adam Pettyjohn for the Bats, nor David Pauley for the PawSox, pitched particularly well. Pettyjohn pitched five innings, giving up five runs on eight hits. He walked three and struck out no one. Pauley went 6 1/3 innings, yielding seven runs, four of which were earned. He walked one, struck out two, and gave up a two-run homer to Andy Green in the fifth.

The PawSox had a 2-0 lead after two innings on an RBI double by Carter in the first and a Joe Thurston sacrifice fly in the second.

The Bats scored five runs over the fourth and fifth innings to take their first lead of the night. Anderson and Ryan Hanigan drove in two runs in the fourth. The Bats scored three unearned runs in the fifth as a throwing error by 1B Chad Spann plated a run just ahead of Green's homer.

The PawSox clawed back with three of their own in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Kottaras and Ginter.

Consecutive doubles by Jerry Gil and Adam Rosales plated two more Bats runs in the top of the sixth. Joe Thurston kept the PawSox within a run, belting his 4th homer of the season in the bottom of the frame.

Green was 3 for 5 to with two RBI's to pace the Louisville attack. Anderson and Rosales added two hits apiece with Anderson also driving in a pair.

Thurston went 3 for 4 and drove in two for Pawtucket, Carter and Kottaras each had a pair of hits. Kottaras also added two RBI's. Lowrie's single in the ninth extended his hit streak to 12 games.

Todd Coffey (1-2) picked-up the win in relief for the Bats. Roenicke earned the save.

Game two of the series will be played tomorrow night (7:05 pm) as RHP Ramon Ramirez (2-0, 6.06) takes the mound for Louisville against RHP Edgar Martinez (2-1, 4.61) for Pawtucket.

BOX SCORE

Game 67- Bats vs. PawSox, June 10, 2008

The PawSox look to snap their two-game loosing skid tonight (7:05 pm) as they welcome the Louisville Bats to McCoy for the first of four games. This is the only appearance of the Bats in Pawtucket this season. Looks like a good pitching match-up as LHP Adam Pettyjohn (7-1, 4.44) hurls for Louisville against RHP David Pauley (8-2, 3.86) for the PawSox.

My real life responsibilities are again keeping me away from the stadium...But here is a brief preview...

Louisville Bats (38-27)

The Bats enter the game in a tie for first in the IL West with the Toledo Mud Hens. The Bats earned a share of the top spot by winning six of their last ten games.

Pettyjohn is looking for his fourth consecutive win when he takes the mound tonight for his 13th start of the season. In all 12 previous starts this year he has not failed to pitch at least five innings each time out. One of his seven wins came against the PawSox back on April 11th when he pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up 5 runs on six hits in the Bats' 8-5 victory. He has received great run support from the Louisville offense as of late, averaging 7.2 runs a game over Pettyjohn's last six starts.

The Bats have had some of the minor's biggest names play for them this season but most of those players have since been promoted to the Reds. Starter Homer Bailey and OF Jay Bruce both began the season in Louisville and have since joined the big league club. Two moves were made by the Reds today, calling up IF Jolbert Cabrera and LHP Danny Herrera.

Pawtucket Red Sox (38-28)

The PawSox are still well within sight of the IL North lead, trailing the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees by two games for first and the Syracuse Chiefs by only 1/2 game for second.

Pauley is looking for his seventh consecutive win tonight. Over his last six starts he is 6-0 with a 4.24 ERA. His last loss came May 3rd against Syracuse.

Chris Carter remains on a tear, belting a home run in each of the last three games. Jed Lowrie brings an 11-game hitting streak into tonight's contest.

One roster move for the PawSox we forgot to mention yesterday. Bobby Kielty was placed back on to the 7-day disabled list with a left oblique strain He suffered the injury in Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bisons. Bryan Pitz was reinstated from the DL to fill Kielty's roster spot.

Game Wraps- June 9, 2008

Most of the International League took a break on Monday. Here are the results of those who did play last night...

The Syracuse Chiefs and Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees split a double header last night in Moosic, PA. The Yankees won the opener, a completion of the suspended game from Sunday, 3-2, while the Chiefs shut-out SWB in the night cap 5-0. The Chiefs' John Parish pitched 8 scoreless innings to improve his record to 9-0 in game two. GAME ONE BOX GAME TWO BOX

The only other game was held at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA as the visiting Rochester Red Wings beat the host Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, 4-1. BOX

Bisons Get To Buchholz, PawSox Pitching Staff, 10-3

The Buffalo Bisons pounded out 16 hits, and PawSox starter Clay Buchholz suffered his first lost of the season, in the Buffalo's 10-3 win last night at McCoy. With the win the Bisons took two out of three in the series. It's the first series lost for Pawtucket since the end of April, also at the hands of the Bisons.

Buchholz (0-1) got himself into a jam in the third inning, giving up two runs. Jorge Velandia led off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball by PawSox catcher Dusty Brown. A Jordan Brown walk, sandwiched around two outs signaled that Buchholz may survive the inning. But back-to-back singles by Aaron Herr and Brad Snyder plated the first two Buffalo runs.

Buchholz' night ended after three innings. His 73 pitch effort included giving up two runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out three.

The PawSox bullpen did not fare any better against the Buffalo attack. Jose Vaquedano gave up three runs in two innings of work, while Jon Switzer allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings on the mound. The Bisons hit three homers off the pair, a two-run shot by Brown off Vaquedano in the fourth, a Todd Linden three-run homer in the sixth, and Herr's two-run bomb in the ninth, both off Switzer.

The Bisons received a steady pitching performance from starter Jeff Harris (3-3). He pitched five innings in earning the win, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked two.

All three PawSox runs came on a Chris Carter three-run homer to right off Harris in the sixth. It was Carter's third homer in as many games and his 13th of the season. He finished the game going 2 for 4.

The only other bright spot offensively for the PawSox was that Jed Lowrie was able to extend his hitting streak to 11 games by belting a single in the sixth.

Herr and C Wyatt Toregas each had three hits for the Bisons. Velandia, Brown, and Linden chipped in with two hits apiece.

With the victory Buffalo leads the season series over Pawtucket 7-5.

The PawSox will welcome the Louisville Bats for their only McCoy appearance, a four game set which begins tonight (7:05 pm). LHP Adam Pettyjohn (7-1, 4.44) goes for the Bats against RHP David Pauley (8-2, 3.86) for Pawtucket.

BOX SCORE

Game 66- Bisons vs. PawSox, June 9, 2008

The PawSox look to take the rubber game of their three game series with the Buffalo Bisons as the two clubs play the finale tonight (7:05 pm) at McCoy. RHP Jeff Harris (2-3, 5.40) will pitch for Buffalo, opposed by RHP Clay Buchholz (0-0, 2.77) for Pawtucket. It's also Legends Night at the stadium as Red Sox greats Tommy Harper and Lou Merloni will be on hand for autographs and photos.

After two straight games in the press box, I need to attend to more pressing issues for the next few days. Here is a brief preview of the match-up nonetheless...

Buffalo Bisons (29-35)

With yesterday afternoon's win the Bisons have the edge in the season series with the PawSox at 6-5. They still remain in fourth place in the IL North, 10 games behind first place Scranton.

Harris will make his 7th start of the season after making 6 appearances out of the pen. He has lost two of his last three outings, yielding a total of 15 earned runs on 23 hits over 17 innings pitched.

Pawtucket Red Sox (38-27)

Entering tonight's contest the PawSox are tied for second in the IL North, 1 1/2 games behind Scranton and tied with Syracuse. The Yankees and Chiefs will finish their suspended game from yesterday and wrap up their series tonight in Moosic, PA.

The PawSox have not lost a series since dropping two games in Buffalo April 26th & 27th. They have won or split the last 10 series they have played.

Buchholz will make his fourth appearance out of the PawSox rotation tonight. Since beginning a rehab assignement on May 25th, Buchholz has been consistent despite not earning decision. In his last outing he pitched five scoreless innings, giving up only three hits in PawSox 4-2 loss at Charlotte.

Jed Lowrie comes in earning a hit in ten straight games. Chris Carter has hit a homer in the first two games of the series against the Bisons.

For those of you going to the game...stay cool...and enjoy!

Bisons Talk

Want to find out more about the Buffalo Bisons? Here is my talk with Ben Wagner, the radio voice of the club...