The Pawtucket Red Sox averted their first series loss of 2014, salvaging a four-game home split with the International League-leading Indianapolis Indians. They completed their fifth split in eight overall series Sunday afternoon with a tight, 3-2 victory at McCoy Stadium.
Two
pairs of mutually uneventful innings sandwiched a third frame that saw each
team muster a single run.
With
two away in the top of that frame, Chris Dickerson reached base for the second
time in as many plate appearances, rolling a single to right. He moved to
second via PawSox starter Allen Webster’s wild pitch on the first offering to
Michael Martinez.
Martinez
supplanted Dickerson by driving the next pitch to right field, enough to plate
the first run, and extending his base hit by beating Daniel Nava’s throw.
The
Red Sox retorted in the bottom half when Ryan Lavarnway leveled a fly ball to
the left-center warning track. When Chase d’Arnaud failed to haul it in, it
gave the Pawtucket cleanup man a pass to second base and Ryan Roberts a ticket
home from first base.
In
the bottom of the sixth, Lavarnway drilled Indians starter Jackson’s first
offering to left for a leadoff single. One pitch later, Bryce Brentz reached on
a fielding error by Martinez at second, placing himself and Lavarnway on the
corners.
Lavarnway
came home for a 2-1 PawSox lead with the help of Garin Cecchini’s line drive
single up the middle.
Dickerson
drew a 2-2 knot for the Indians in the seventh, sending a two-out single to
center and scoring d’Arnaud from second base. But the Sox responded with little
delay to grip a permanent upper hand.
Roberts
led off the bottom half with a double to the left field corner, then came home
on Nava’s follow-up rolling single to right.
PawSox Pluses
With
winds blowing north of 20 miles per hour for much of the day, Pawtucket’s
offense made an ally out of the elements. The home batters elevated a bevy of
balls to send a total of 18 onto or above the outfield lawn.
Lavarnway
led that charge by batting 3-for-4 with a run driven in and a run scored. Even
his non-hit cultivated a benefit when his seventh-inning sacrifice grounder
nudged Nava to second base.
Roberts
joined Lavarnway in the multi-hit club and translated both his third-inning
single and sixth-inning two-batter to runs scored.
In relief of Webster, Chris Hernandez and Alex Wilson combined for zero hits, one walk and four strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Wilson and his mates benched all five of his challengers in the eighth and ninth.
Sox Stains
Brentz’s
weekend-long struggles against the Indians went the distance as he finished the
series 0-for-11.
Brentz’s
most productive plate appearance on Sunday was his five-pitch walk in the
seventh. Before that, he stranded three prospective scorers by constituting the
final out of the first via the "K" and that of the third on a shallow fly. That
strikeout was his fifth in four days against the Indians.
In
all, the PawSox stranded 10 total runners, including six in scoring
position and three on third. Their most egregious missed opportunity came in
the aftermath of Cecchini’s lead-granting RBI single in the sixth. After a walk
to Corey Brown loaded the bases with one down, Dan Butler whiffed on an 0-2
pitch and Brock Holt popped out to catcher Omir Santos.
Indians Notes
Gregory
Polanco and Andrew Lambo were conspicuous by their quietness at the dish Sunday.
Polanco,
who batted third, entered the day having hit safely in each of the previous
three games, batting 4-for-12 overall. The cleanup man Lambo had likewise hit on
all three preceding days, going 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles, a home run,
two RBIs and four runs scored.
On
Sunday, however, they combined to reach base once. That was when Lambo drew a
one-out walk following Polanco’s second "K" of the day in the eighth.
Dickerson
reached base in each of his first four plate appearances, walking and singling twice
apiece.
Southpaw Daniel Schlereth pitched 1.2 seamless innings as the visitors' second reliever. He retired all five of his challengers in the eighth and ninth, including three strikeouts.
With the loss, the Indians dropped to 20-10, making them the last team in the league to crack double digits in the "L" column.
Miscellany
Webster
achieved multiple 2014 season high marks in the seventh. On his 96th pitch of
the day, which temporarily a two-time season high, he fanned Blake Davis for a
season-high sixth strikeout. That out also ensured his first 6.2 IP venture in
seven total outings.
Although,
his new season-high 98th delivery amounted to the 2-2 equalizer, denying him a
shot at a win and impelling manager Kevin Boles to summon Hernandez from
the bullpen.
By
swiping second in the second inning, Snyder became the sixth individual PawSox
player to steal a base in 2014.
