The Sox shall entertain Rochester and
the Columbus Clippers for four nights apiece before venturing to a pair of
Southern Division cities.
Here are nine other pregame pop-ups
worth noting ahead of Pawtucket’s Monday night matchup with the 13-16 Red
Wings.
·
Now
in his sixth season with the Red Sox, Matsuzaka has previous made eight starts
in Pawtucket, the last occurring on April 21, 2010 against Lehigh Valley. The
pricey Japanese import holds a 3-1 lifetime record at the Triple-A level.
·
Matsuzaka
faced the Red Wings in his last appearance at McCoy Stadium, shutting them out
through five innings en route to a winning decision on April 10, 2010.
·
Slugger
Lars Anderson will presumably put in
his first appearance before Pawtucket’s home crowd since April 21, before he
was recalled to Boston for nine days. In four games since rejoining the PawSox
midway through their road trip, Anderson has exponentially elevated his daily
hit count with zero on Wednesday, one on Friday after an off day, two Saturday and
three on Sunday.
·
First-year
PawSox outfielder Josh Kroeger
bookended the 10-game road trip with a pair of homers, belting his second of
the season in Sunday’s 7-5 triumph over the Empire State Yankees. He has yet to
leave the yard at McCoy.
·
The
Wings vacated their home at Frontier Field for Sunday’s Sox-Yankees bout as the
Pinstripes top farm team carries on through its year without a home in
Scranton. The Yanks will play in Rochester for the next eight days while the
Red Wings are engaged in their visits to the PawSox and the Syracuse Chiefs.
·
Pitcher
Scott Diamond, originally slated to
start in Thursday afternoon’s series finale, was called up by the parent
Minnesota Twins on Sunday, as was shortstop Brian Dozier. Diamond is 4-1 in six Triple-A starts to date this
season, including a victorious outing versus the Sox on April 11.
·
Concomitant
with four consecutive wins for the team, top Rochester batter Darin Mastroianni is riding a four-game
hitting streak and has hit 12-for-31 in his last nine outings. He drove in four
runs as part of a 5-0 triumph over the Buffalo Bisons on Saturday, finishing a
sweep of a double-header.
·
Rochester’s
collective pitching staff has allowed the fewest hits (220) to date in the
International League, although they have also pitched the fewest innings
(245.2).
·
Rochester’s
offense is last on the league leaderboard with 79 runs batted in and tied with
the Durham Bulls for last with 10 home runs apiece.
