Swift summation
The way PawSox reliever Randy Williams mishandled Rich Thompson’s short-distance bunt was aptly symbolic of his fatally juggling with torches. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs formidable baserunner reached on Williams’ fielding error with no outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, also placing Freddy Galvis in scoring position.
Two plays later, an intentional walk to Kevin Frandsen loaded the bases and daringly summoned Brandon Moss, whose subsequent single to right-center gave him all of his team’s RBIs in a 3-2 final at Coca-Cola Park.
With that, Pawtucket now finds itself down, 2-0, in the best-of-five Governor’s Cup semifinal series. And despite returning home for up to three do-or-die games, the Sox are facing anything but auspicious circumstances, having just wasted the efforts of the two most reliable members of their playoff rotation, Matt Fox and Tony Pena, Jr.
Not unlike his other two bouts with Lehigh Valley, Pena had a lead for a time, but it was brittle and short-lived.
In the opening frame, Lars Anderson did as he had done in the opening game by driving in Pawtucket’s first run on an extra-base hit. With two outs and Jose Iglesias on board, he cranked a double to the right-center warning track, allowing Iglesias to hustle all the way home from first for a 1-0 lead.
Pena set the most auspicious tone possible on his first shift of duty, needing only seven pitches and throwing all of them for strikes in a 1-2-3 first. But that trend changed in a hurry in the ensuing innings.
Moss pulled the IronPigs even to lead off the home half of the second, catapulting Pena’s first pitch over the fence in straightaway center. One inning later, with two on board and one away, Moss doubled to center to send Scott Podsednik home from second, granting the hosts a 2-1 upper hand.
Only thrice in the regular season, including his two other bouts with Lehigh Valley, had Pena thrown more pitches than the 85 he chucked in Thursday’s start. When he reached that point, on the heels of allowing back-to-back two-out singles, he was forked out in favor of Hideki Okajima after a mere 4.2 innings-pitched.
Okajima’s first challenger was none other than Moss, who lost the lefty-to-lefty confrontation by popping up to the shortstop Iglesias in shallow left.
Lehigh Valley starter Ryan Edell left relatively early as well, having thrown 75 pitches in 5.2 innings. His second reliever, Phillippe Aumont, would spill his bid for a win in the eighth.
Che-Hsuan Lin led off by daringly bunting and diving into first base on a play that was scored a fielding error to IronPigs first baseman Tagg Bozied. Lin would advance to second on a wild-pitch, transfer to third on Iglesias’ sacrifice bunt, then draw a 2-2 knot ahead of Daniel Nava’s ground-rule double to left-center.
To commence the bottom of the ninth, Williams issued a four-pitch walk to Delwyn Young, thus snapping the Pawtucket bullpen’s night-long string of 10 straight retired batters. But Young was stranded on second base, prompting extra innings.
PawSox pluses
Okajima, who went through his final six regular-season relief outings without allowing a run, did about all that could be asked of him Friday night. Facing four batters, he struck out two and induced a pair of grounders.
Junichi Tazawa was equally pristine when he succeeded Okajima to commence the seventh. He induced a popup and a flyout before benching three straight on strikes to retire all five of his batters-faced.
Sox stains
After the Pigs had taken the 2-1 lead, Tony Thomas blew an opportunity to pull the PawSox even in one of the most egregious possible ways. After being hit by a pitch to earn a free base with two outs in the fifth, he quickly spilled that opportunity with Lin at the plate, getting caught in a botched attempt to steal second.
And if there were any seams in the psyche of Lehigh Valley reliever Mike Zagurski in the seventh inning, Carroll and Thomas didn’t find it. They struck out back-to-back to strand Will Middlebrooks and Luis Exposito on the corners, ending the top of the seventh with the 2-1 deficit still intact.
Carroll’s quiet night at the plate included one shallow fly to right-center and three strikeouts.
IronPigs notes
Frandsen, a former PawSox infielder hit 2-for-3 against Pena and just missed giving the IronPigs a two-run advantage in the bottom of the third. He attempted to follow Podsednik home on Moss’ RBI double, but was thrown out on a relay between Lin, Thomas and Exposito.
Justin De Fratus, Lehigh Valley’s fourth pitcher on the night, struck out two for a 1-2-3 ninth. He then struck out the side on a couple of disputed calls for a 1-2-3 tenth.
Catcher Erik Kratz, the IronPigs’ regular-season batting leader with a .288 average, did not start the game but pinch-hit for plate-patrolling colleague Dane Sardinha in the ninth and assumed his usual defensive post to commence the tenth.
Miscellany
Drew Sutton, outrighted by the parent club earlier in the day, pinch-hit for Thomas to commence extra innings, though he was rung up after taking a payoff pitch from De Fratus.
In other Friday transactions, the PawSox lost reliever Scott Atchison to his sixth Major League call-up of the year, but brought up Royce Ring from Double-A Portland to fill the bullpen void.
Two nights after local Bruins fans had a chance to meet the Stanley Cup at the Rhode Island Convention Center, the Red Sox will bring their recent hardware to the home of their Ocean State associates. Both the 2004 and 2007 World Series trophies will be on display outside of McCoy Stadium prior to Game 3 on Saturday.
The defending Triple-A national champion Columbus Clippers finished a three-game sweep of the Durham Bulls with a 5-2 victory Friday night. Either the PawSox or IronPigs will venture to Huntington Park for Game 1 of the Governor’s Cup Finals on Tuesday.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Post-game pop-ups: IronPigs 4, PawSox 2
Swift summation
The situation the Pawtucket Red Sox are in after Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Coca-Cola Park is as plain as they reason why they are in it.
Unlike the Sox, the host IronPigs―especially their key players―did not take an extended afternoon nap into the confrontation. Nor did they habitually doze back off when the time was right to hit the “go” button with men on base.
And so, contrary to the adage that in baseball, “there’s always tomorrow,” the 2011 PawSox have as few as two tomorrow’s left as they trail the best-of-five Governor’s Cup playoff series, 1-0.
On their first couple of post-season go-arounds, the core of the IronPigs’ offense was effective when that of the PawSox wasn’t. After Che-Hsuan Lin and Joey Gathright both reached base to lead off the first, the leaned-on likes of Daniel Nava, Lars Anderson and Hector Luna all failed to knock any of them home.
In the bottom half, league-leading base-stealer and run-scorer Rich Thompson wasted no time exercising his two fortes. He led off with a single, stole second base, advanced to third on Scott Podsednik’s sacrifice bunt, then gave Lehigh Valley a 1-0 edge with the help of Kevin Frandsen’s sacrifice grounder to Luna at second.
Erik Kratz, the IronPigs regular-season batting average leader (.288), raised the upper hand to 2-0 with a solo shot to left field in the second inning.
After the heart of the PawSox order showed little life again in the third (Luna stranded both Nava and Anderson), high-ranking slugger and old friend Brandon Moss made it 3-0 in the fourth. He led off the inning with a distant dinger to right-centerfield, giving him his second hit in as many confrontations with Pawtucket ace Matt Fox.
With that, Fox had already given up more than two runs in a single start for the first time since his last losing decision, a 13-3 debacle against Durham on July 17.
The Sox and at least one of their top bats finally perked up when the cleanup man Anderson ended a nine-pitch at-bat with a homer to right to lead off the sixth. That ended a team-leading, 33-day, 80-at-bat drought without a dinger and whittled the deficit down to 3-1.
But Freddy Galvis sent his own shot into the same locality in the seventh at the expense of reliever Brandon Duckworth, restoring the three-run difference to 4-1.
As it happened, the heart of the PawSox order was due up next. They did load the bases with one out, allowing Luis Exposito to sacrifice himself on a grounder that sent Nava home from third.
But Luna and Will Middlebrooks were subsequently left on third and second, respectively, effectively capping off a night that saw Pawtucket stand nine baserunners altogether, including seven in scoring position.
With none other than Nava on deck in the ninth, IronPigs closer Justin De Fratus wrapped up a 1-2-3 ninth.
PawSox pluses
It took Nava a while to get a tangible reward, but his aggression in the batter’s box base paths was repeatedly evident Thursday night. In his first at-bat, he put Lin and Gathright in scoring position on a sacrifice grounder, although they were both stranded. He singled up the middle to avert a 1-2-3 third inning. And in the eighth, he led off with a walk, stole second base with Luna at bat, advanced to third on Middlebrooks’ single and scored Pawtucket’s second run with the help of Exposito’s sacrifice.
Sox stains
In each of his first two plate-appearances, the PawSox had two outs and Luna had two prospective RBIs on board. But through a strikeout and a shallow fly to right, he let all four of those evaporate in a hurry.
For Jose Iglesias, the first two trips to the batter’s box constituted a case of strand or be stranded. In the second, he let Brett Carroll’s two-out double go to waste when he grounded to first. In the fifth, he reached on pitcher Dave Bush’s fielding error, then stole second and advanced to third on Gathright’s sacrifice, only to watch helplessly as Nava’s fly ended his bid to hatch Bush’s goose-egg.
IronPigs notes
Bush left with two outs in the seventh inning, having thrown 98 pitches, 70 of which went for strikes and six strikeouts. He was, however, involved in two errors. The first, which let Iglesias on board in the fourth, was charged to him. And his final play had him chasing down a misfired throw by first baseman Cody Overbeck that ultimately let Lin get to scoring position.
Bush’s first reliever, Joe Savery, struck out his only challenger when Gathright tipped a 2-2 pitch into the mitt of Kratz to end the seventh.
Miscellany
Duckworth, reactivated Thursday after 20 days on the disabled list, struck out Overbeck on three straight swings-and-misses to commence the seventh. But he was ultimately forked out after recording two outs, followed by two extra-base hits. Dating back to August 10, Duckworth has authorized at least one home run in each of his last three outings.
Of the 18 position players active in Game 1, Lehigh Valley’s Frandsen and Overbeck were the only two to not reach base at any point on the night.
The situation the Pawtucket Red Sox are in after Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Coca-Cola Park is as plain as they reason why they are in it.
Unlike the Sox, the host IronPigs―especially their key players―did not take an extended afternoon nap into the confrontation. Nor did they habitually doze back off when the time was right to hit the “go” button with men on base.
And so, contrary to the adage that in baseball, “there’s always tomorrow,” the 2011 PawSox have as few as two tomorrow’s left as they trail the best-of-five Governor’s Cup playoff series, 1-0.
On their first couple of post-season go-arounds, the core of the IronPigs’ offense was effective when that of the PawSox wasn’t. After Che-Hsuan Lin and Joey Gathright both reached base to lead off the first, the leaned-on likes of Daniel Nava, Lars Anderson and Hector Luna all failed to knock any of them home.
In the bottom half, league-leading base-stealer and run-scorer Rich Thompson wasted no time exercising his two fortes. He led off with a single, stole second base, advanced to third on Scott Podsednik’s sacrifice bunt, then gave Lehigh Valley a 1-0 edge with the help of Kevin Frandsen’s sacrifice grounder to Luna at second.
Erik Kratz, the IronPigs regular-season batting average leader (.288), raised the upper hand to 2-0 with a solo shot to left field in the second inning.
After the heart of the PawSox order showed little life again in the third (Luna stranded both Nava and Anderson), high-ranking slugger and old friend Brandon Moss made it 3-0 in the fourth. He led off the inning with a distant dinger to right-centerfield, giving him his second hit in as many confrontations with Pawtucket ace Matt Fox.
With that, Fox had already given up more than two runs in a single start for the first time since his last losing decision, a 13-3 debacle against Durham on July 17.
The Sox and at least one of their top bats finally perked up when the cleanup man Anderson ended a nine-pitch at-bat with a homer to right to lead off the sixth. That ended a team-leading, 33-day, 80-at-bat drought without a dinger and whittled the deficit down to 3-1.
But Freddy Galvis sent his own shot into the same locality in the seventh at the expense of reliever Brandon Duckworth, restoring the three-run difference to 4-1.
As it happened, the heart of the PawSox order was due up next. They did load the bases with one out, allowing Luis Exposito to sacrifice himself on a grounder that sent Nava home from third.
But Luna and Will Middlebrooks were subsequently left on third and second, respectively, effectively capping off a night that saw Pawtucket stand nine baserunners altogether, including seven in scoring position.
With none other than Nava on deck in the ninth, IronPigs closer Justin De Fratus wrapped up a 1-2-3 ninth.
PawSox pluses
It took Nava a while to get a tangible reward, but his aggression in the batter’s box base paths was repeatedly evident Thursday night. In his first at-bat, he put Lin and Gathright in scoring position on a sacrifice grounder, although they were both stranded. He singled up the middle to avert a 1-2-3 third inning. And in the eighth, he led off with a walk, stole second base with Luna at bat, advanced to third on Middlebrooks’ single and scored Pawtucket’s second run with the help of Exposito’s sacrifice.
Sox stains
In each of his first two plate-appearances, the PawSox had two outs and Luna had two prospective RBIs on board. But through a strikeout and a shallow fly to right, he let all four of those evaporate in a hurry.
For Jose Iglesias, the first two trips to the batter’s box constituted a case of strand or be stranded. In the second, he let Brett Carroll’s two-out double go to waste when he grounded to first. In the fifth, he reached on pitcher Dave Bush’s fielding error, then stole second and advanced to third on Gathright’s sacrifice, only to watch helplessly as Nava’s fly ended his bid to hatch Bush’s goose-egg.
IronPigs notes
Bush left with two outs in the seventh inning, having thrown 98 pitches, 70 of which went for strikes and six strikeouts. He was, however, involved in two errors. The first, which let Iglesias on board in the fourth, was charged to him. And his final play had him chasing down a misfired throw by first baseman Cody Overbeck that ultimately let Lin get to scoring position.
Bush’s first reliever, Joe Savery, struck out his only challenger when Gathright tipped a 2-2 pitch into the mitt of Kratz to end the seventh.
Miscellany
Duckworth, reactivated Thursday after 20 days on the disabled list, struck out Overbeck on three straight swings-and-misses to commence the seventh. But he was ultimately forked out after recording two outs, followed by two extra-base hits. Dating back to August 10, Duckworth has authorized at least one home run in each of his last three outings.
Of the 18 position players active in Game 1, Lehigh Valley’s Frandsen and Overbeck were the only two to not reach base at any point on the night.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
PawSox playoff run could be start of a local sports renaissance
The devout sports buffs of Providence County, and of Rhode Island in general, are all but back where they were at this time three years ago.
After two sleepy, sub.-500 summers, the PawSox are back in the Governor’s Cup playoffs as of this week. Meanwhile, Providence College has resumed classes with the better part of its community waiting out two more months before a new coach looks to revitalize the school’s cherished basketball program.
This was the exact same case on both fronts in 2008, when manager Ron Johnson and Co. garnered the International League wild card and the Friars were banking on Keno Davis to reprise his success at Drake University.
It proved a false start on both accounts. But now here we are again, and then some.
First-year manager Arnie Beyeler’s instantaneous success, which saw the PawSox improve their regular-season record by 16 games, can serve as inspiration to the fan bases of three other local teams. Not unlike the Sox, the Providence Bruins along with PC men’s basketball and hockey will all debut a new coach this year and will be looking for postseason action for the first time in two or more years.
Four teams starting anew all in one year equals four chances to see a local team replenish its relevance. One has already gone above and beyond just by being one of the last four teams standing in the I.L.
Will the hoopsters and pucksters of Providence do the same thing to the same extent within the same frame of time? Well, the motto of this state is “Hope,” so the fans are free to dream and keeping drawing inspiration from the PawSox as they anticipate the coming winter.
But first, let’s look back at when all of the teams in the area seemed to tumble.
The PawSox fizzled in four games at the hands of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and then plummeted to irrelevance on the watch of Johnson and later Torey Lovullo. PC did garner a home date with the Miami Hurricanes at the 2009 NIT, but otherwise floundered, ultimately leading to Davis’ dismissal six months ago.
While we’re at it, let's throw in the two publicity-leading hockey teams in the area. When the PawSox host Game 3 of this week’s I.L. semifinal against Lehigh Valley, it will be the first time a significant postseason game has been played in this state since Memorial Day 2009.
That day, the P-Bruins were abolished from the AHL’s conference finals by the almighty Hershey Bears. Since then, they have missed the Calder Cup playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in their two decades of existence.
But their plight has paled in comparison to that of the Skating Friars. PC men's hockey entered the 2008-09 season having made the Hockey East playoffs in each of the league's 24 years of existence. But ever since Nathan Gerbe scored on a highlight-reel penalty shot and Boston College knocked them out of the quarterfinals the same day Davis' predecessor, Tim Welsh, was fired―the Ides of March 2008―PC has seen no action in the postseason.
Accordingly, Davis and former Friar Puck captain Tim Army were both ushered out within a span of 24 hours this past spring. One month later, Rob Murray was dislodged from his post as the P-Bruins head coach.
At the same time, a few towns over, manager Beyeler was just getting acclimated as he claimed Lovullo’s old office at McCoy Stadium. Not unlike their parent club at Fenway Park, the PawSox got off to a so-so start in 2011, finishing April with a 13-10 transcript and May with a 26-25 record.
Since then, however, Beyeler’s pupils have perked up and won 17 games apiece in June, July and August. A sweep of a four-game homestand this past Labor Day weekend cemented their first I.L. divisional championship since 2003.
While the PawSox were still thawing out, Friartown was drawing attention to its dual replacement campaign. First, local boy Ed Cooley was given the basketball reins and energetically pledged to instill discipline and unwavering pride to the descendants of Jimmy Walker, Ernie DiGregorio and Ryan Gomes.
Then, fresh off of claiming the Spencer Penrose Award as Division I men’s coach of the year, Nate Leaman bolted from Union College to fill the void at Schneider Arena. (Maybe he can pilfer some of the winning potion from two-time defending Women’s Hockey East coach of the year, Bob Deraney.)
And on June 25, when the Sox were four games above .500 and gradually ascending the I.L. leaderboard, the P-Bruins followed PC hockey's lead in hiring another accolade-laden coach. Bruce Cassidy, who won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2002, was simply elevated from his assistant's seat to take Murray’s old spot.
For all three of the new skipper, the starting points are fairly similar. PC hoops wants to contend for an NCAA tournament bid, Friar Puck wants to play the week after Senior Night and the P-Bruins want to get back to the AHL’s Sweet 16.
If any of the, can do that, they will each be entitled to the same mentality as the PawSox of this week: That they have as good a chance as anybody to nab a little hardware and radiate for Rhode Islanders to admire.
After two sleepy, sub.-500 summers, the PawSox are back in the Governor’s Cup playoffs as of this week. Meanwhile, Providence College has resumed classes with the better part of its community waiting out two more months before a new coach looks to revitalize the school’s cherished basketball program.
This was the exact same case on both fronts in 2008, when manager Ron Johnson and Co. garnered the International League wild card and the Friars were banking on Keno Davis to reprise his success at Drake University.
It proved a false start on both accounts. But now here we are again, and then some.
First-year manager Arnie Beyeler’s instantaneous success, which saw the PawSox improve their regular-season record by 16 games, can serve as inspiration to the fan bases of three other local teams. Not unlike the Sox, the Providence Bruins along with PC men’s basketball and hockey will all debut a new coach this year and will be looking for postseason action for the first time in two or more years.
Four teams starting anew all in one year equals four chances to see a local team replenish its relevance. One has already gone above and beyond just by being one of the last four teams standing in the I.L.
Will the hoopsters and pucksters of Providence do the same thing to the same extent within the same frame of time? Well, the motto of this state is “Hope,” so the fans are free to dream and keeping drawing inspiration from the PawSox as they anticipate the coming winter.
But first, let’s look back at when all of the teams in the area seemed to tumble.
The PawSox fizzled in four games at the hands of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and then plummeted to irrelevance on the watch of Johnson and later Torey Lovullo. PC did garner a home date with the Miami Hurricanes at the 2009 NIT, but otherwise floundered, ultimately leading to Davis’ dismissal six months ago.
While we’re at it, let's throw in the two publicity-leading hockey teams in the area. When the PawSox host Game 3 of this week’s I.L. semifinal against Lehigh Valley, it will be the first time a significant postseason game has been played in this state since Memorial Day 2009.
That day, the P-Bruins were abolished from the AHL’s conference finals by the almighty Hershey Bears. Since then, they have missed the Calder Cup playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in their two decades of existence.
But their plight has paled in comparison to that of the Skating Friars. PC men's hockey entered the 2008-09 season having made the Hockey East playoffs in each of the league's 24 years of existence. But ever since Nathan Gerbe scored on a highlight-reel penalty shot and Boston College knocked them out of the quarterfinals the same day Davis' predecessor, Tim Welsh, was fired―the Ides of March 2008―PC has seen no action in the postseason.
Accordingly, Davis and former Friar Puck captain Tim Army were both ushered out within a span of 24 hours this past spring. One month later, Rob Murray was dislodged from his post as the P-Bruins head coach.
At the same time, a few towns over, manager Beyeler was just getting acclimated as he claimed Lovullo’s old office at McCoy Stadium. Not unlike their parent club at Fenway Park, the PawSox got off to a so-so start in 2011, finishing April with a 13-10 transcript and May with a 26-25 record.
Since then, however, Beyeler’s pupils have perked up and won 17 games apiece in June, July and August. A sweep of a four-game homestand this past Labor Day weekend cemented their first I.L. divisional championship since 2003.
While the PawSox were still thawing out, Friartown was drawing attention to its dual replacement campaign. First, local boy Ed Cooley was given the basketball reins and energetically pledged to instill discipline and unwavering pride to the descendants of Jimmy Walker, Ernie DiGregorio and Ryan Gomes.
Then, fresh off of claiming the Spencer Penrose Award as Division I men’s coach of the year, Nate Leaman bolted from Union College to fill the void at Schneider Arena. (Maybe he can pilfer some of the winning potion from two-time defending Women’s Hockey East coach of the year, Bob Deraney.)
And on June 25, when the Sox were four games above .500 and gradually ascending the I.L. leaderboard, the P-Bruins followed PC hockey's lead in hiring another accolade-laden coach. Bruce Cassidy, who won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2002, was simply elevated from his assistant's seat to take Murray’s old spot.
For all three of the new skipper, the starting points are fairly similar. PC hoops wants to contend for an NCAA tournament bid, Friar Puck wants to play the week after Senior Night and the P-Bruins want to get back to the AHL’s Sweet 16.
If any of the, can do that, they will each be entitled to the same mentality as the PawSox of this week: That they have as good a chance as anybody to nab a little hardware and radiate for Rhode Islanders to admire.
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