Starting Nine: 9 Facts To Take Into The PawSox-Mud Hens Series

For the second half of their May-opening homestand, the Pawtucket Red Sox will go from facing the best of the I.L. West to engaging the worst of the West. The Indianapolis Indians leave Rhode Island in the wake of a four-game split still leading the league with a 20-10 record. Conversely, the Toledo Mud Hens come in at 11-19, putting them at the bottom of their four-team sector.

Despite their record, which amounts to the third-lowest winning percentage in the league, the Hens have an unsurpassed 29 home runs on the year. Although, 10 of those dingers are not in their dugout as J.D. Martinez has stuck with the parent Detroit Tigers since an April 21 call-up.

Right fielder Ezequiel Carrera leads all members of Toledo’s active roster with a .302 batting average.

The Hens have mustered three runs or fewer in each of their last five games, going 1-4 in that span. Between 14-3 and 1-0 losses at Syracuse on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, they are on a 14-inning scoreless skid.

The Sox and Hens crammed their entire 2013 season series into a single eight-day slew last summer, starting in Toledo and finishing at McCoy. The Mud Hens sandwiched their lone two wins around six straight Pawtucket triumphs June 22-27.

Last season’s 16-3 trouncing of Toledo on June 25 was the PawSox’ most explosive and lopsided victory in 2013. Brandon Workman garnered credit for the win, all nine home batters registered at least one hit, seven drove in at least one hit and eight crossed the plate at McCoy that evening.

If he is activated between now and Thursday’s series finale, this week could be Brayan Villareal’s first chance to confront his former allies. The 26-year-old reliever played 53 games for Toledo over two-plus seasons until a three-team trade last July 30 saw his rights transferred from the Tigers to the Red Sox. Villareal is currently on the seven-day disabled list and has not seen action since April 13.

The Sox have another former Detroit farmhand in Justin Henry. Henry’s Triple-A career consists of 137 games played with the Mud Hens and six against them in Pawtucket attire. He hit 7-for-234 with three doubles, three walks, three strikeouts, four runs scored and five RBIs in the 2013 season series. 

Former PawSox catcher Luis Exposito is with the Hens after spending all of 2013 and the better part of 2013 with the Norfolk Tides. To date, his Toledo tenure has yielded a .279 batting average with two home runs, five RBIs and seven runs scored in 14 games played.

Post-game Pop-ups: PawSox 3, Indians 2

Swift Summation
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.

For Prime P-Bruins, Saturday’s Games 5 Is Keep Playing Or Keep Practicing

Just as he did in Tuesday’s 6-3 barn-burner, Ryan Spooner will strive to prolong his AHL tenure with the Providence Bruins Saturday night. No. 1 goaltender Niklas Svedberg, who ceded the crease to rookie Malcolm Subban for Game 4, will do the same if head coach Bruce Cassidy elects to install the elder stopper.

The Springfield Falcons will host the deciding dance in the best-of-five Eastern Conference quarterfinal at MassMutual Center. If the P-Bruins polish the upset, they will occupy themselves for no less than another week and a half.

In that event, there is potential for the best-of-seven second round of the Calder Cup playoffs to outlast the parent club’s endeavor. The Boston Bruins enter their own Saturday tilt facing a 1-0 second-round deficit at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. Where that series stands, the familiar “if necessary” asterisk makes its first appearance a week from Saturday for Game 5 on May 10.

On the other hand, if the Falcons seize their third and final lead, Spooner and Svedberg are the two most logical Boston Black Ace shoo-ins. They, if anybody, figure to latch on with the Spoked-Bs’ Stanley Cup run in a practice-only capacity if Providence’s 2013-14 slate evaporates this weekend.

If all goes according to plan, Spooner and Svedberg will need no further fostering before assuming a permanent Boston roster spot after the next training camp. No shortage of Bruins bystanders scratched their heads when the second-year professional pivot even returned to Rhode Island this past winter.

The 22-year-old Spooner saw action in 23 NHL games over the 2013-14 regular season. That included a meaty stretch of 20 straight contests spanning Dec. 8 through Jan. 20. He swelled his stats to 11 points while flaunting spurts of promise on both sides of the puck as a stand-in on the third line.

Yet when Boston’s roster started restoring normalcy, he was one of the sacrifices to the farm. That move was to everyone’s benefit, though.

At the time of Spooner’s reassignment on Jan. 28, Bruins bench boss Claude Julien told the Boston hockey press corps, “He has been really good for us, but at the same time he still has some things to work on. We can look at his point production; at the same time he has no goals, so he’s got to learn to start taking more goals to the net.”

Three months and 32 AHL contests later, Spooner has buried eight goals, all in March and April. Those include four at even strength, one shorthanded and two in the first four games of the postseason.

On the subject of playoff productivity, while Spooner is averaging a point per game in the series, those four points have come in the form of two goal-assist variety packs. What’s more is that both of those productive outings occurred on home ice in Games 1 and 4.

But Spooner charged up his share of variety packs in a variety of venues over the course of the regular season. One of those happened to be on a March 15 visit to Springfield. That night, he buried an unassisted shorthanded strike to saw a 3-1 deficit in half, though the Falcons wrested away a 4-2 final.

The fact that Spooner and linemates Craig Cunningham and Matt Fraser perked up in the face of elimination Tuesday night yields additional cause for organizational encouragement. Points or not, win or not, an identical effort on the road Saturday would embolden a welcome sign as Spooner’s development progresses.

Should the Baby Bs bow out, at least a week’s worth of NHL practice would be a decent consolation prize to bridge into the summer. But another four-to-seven games of authentic extramural action—postseason, no less—would be another worthwhile test.

The former scenario would entail more room to slow down and hear the front office’s evaluations. The latter, however, has no developmental substitute in that there is genuine competition from genuine opponents.

The same concept applies to Svedberg, who went 1-1 in rubber games as a first-year North American professional last season. It is one thing to hone oneself under noticeable supervision in practice. It is another to do so before bright lights, fans, a running clock and adversarial shooters.

Regardless, if coerced into a choice, one can likely declare that Svedberg is striving to stave off his Providence swan song more than Spooner.

Chad Johnson’s one-year Tuukka Rask apprenticeship in Boston is unlikely to last beyond this summer’s free agency. The makeup of the Bruins goaltending pipeline calls for Subban to assume the top slot in Providence while Svedberg graduates to back up his fellow Scandinavian in 2014-15.

With that being said, one more solid game, if not one more playoff round of AHL action cannot hurt the drive to stamp the graduation diploma.