Portland Sea Dogs

PawSox/Indians Pre-Game Notes 4-29-10

We’re back at McCoy tonight for game three of the four game set between the Indianapolis Indians and the Pawtucket Red Sox. The Indians have taken the first two games of the series, winning game one on Tuesday 7-2 and yesterday’s contest in come-from-behind fashion 10-9.

Tonight Daniel McCutchen makes his debut on the mound for the Indians.  He’ll be opposed by Randor Bierd (2-1, 4.50 ERA) for the Paw Sox.  Here are the line-ups…

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (10-10, 3rd Place IL West)

Jose Tabata CF
Neil Walker LF
Brian Myrow DH
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Steve Pearce 1B
Brandon Moss RF
Luke Carlin C
Brian Friday SS
Doug Bernier 2B

Daniel McCutchen P

PAWTUCKET RED SOX (8-12, 5TH Place IL North)

Josh Reddick CF
Daniel Nava DH
Angel Sanchez SS
Tug Hulett 2B
Aaron Bates 1B
Mark Wagner C
Jorge Jimenez SS
Bubba Bell RF
Matt Sheely LF

Randor Bierd P

The big pre-game news is that Lars Anderson has been promoted to the PawSox from Portland.  Anderson is off to a great start, hitting .355 with 5 homers and 17 RBI’s in 16 games with the Sea Dogs.  Anderson is not in the starting line-up but is expected to be at McCoy tonight.

Anderson takes the roster spot left by Kevin Frandsen, who was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on Tuesday and was claimed off waivers by the Anaheim Angels.  Frandsen batted .257 with 2 homers and 4 RBI’s in 17 games for the PawSox.

Not only have the Indians won the first two games of the series but they have also won five games in a row overall.

We’ll be providing updates via Twitter throughout the game.  Check back later for a full game summary.

Futures at Fenway: Portland Wins as PawSox Continue Slide

BOSTON- While Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz confronted his past at a press conference in New York, the Red Sox organization looked forward to its future, hosting the two-game “Futures at Fenway” minor-league event Saturday afternoon.

For the fourth year in a row the Old Bandbox of Boston opened its doors for two of its minor league clubs to each get in a game.

It was a battle of Red Sox and Orioles affiliates as the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs (55-57) took on the Bowie Baysox (60-53) in the afternoon, followed by the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox (50-62) facing off against the Norfolk Tides (62-52) in the early evening.

Pawtucket became the first minor league Red Sox affiliate club to lose at Fenway Park in the “Futures at Fenway” series, falling 7-3 to the Norfolk Tides after Portland dispatched the Baysox 3-2 to begin the day.

In the opener Portland jumped out to an early lead, picking up two runs in the bottom of the second with a Jason Place two-run shot over the Monster seats. But it was a game of “anything you can do, I can do better” as Bowie’s Adam Donachie tied the game in the fifth by matching Place’s shot with one of his own off the Volvo sign.

Jason Place once again stoked the Sea Dogs to a lead, though, getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make the score 3-2, where it stayed the rest of the game as Portland’s Ryne Miller (1-1) picked up the win in relief.

The victory made Red Sox clubs a perfect seven-for-seven in the “Futures” games before Pawtucket took the field in the afternoon.

Having lost 25 of their last 33 games, Pawtucket seemed to be looking for any sort of momentum heading into the nightcap.

The Pawtucket bats, anemic for most of this season, came alive early as the old familiar Fenway shadows crept across the infield.

The “home” club picked up two runs in the bottom of the third. Bubba Bell singled with a line drive to left and moved to second when Angel Chavez was hit by a pitch. After Zach Borowiak sacrifice bunted, Jeff Bailey drove in Bell and Chavez with a line drive single of his own.

Norfolk answered right away in the top of the fourth. Jeff Fiorentino hit his 22nd double of the season and, after advancing to third on a groundout, was singled in by Brandon Snyder for a run. Norfolk then loaded the bases and a Robby Hammock sacrifice fly tied the game before Brandon Pinckney grounded to third base for the third out.

In the bottom of the fourth Pawtucket tried to respond, but Tides first baseman Brandon Snyder dove to slickly stab down a drive for the first out and the Red Sox had little else to add in the inning.

Norfolk pulled away with three more runs in the top of the sixth as Pawtucket’s Charlie Zink began to unravel. He was pulled after five and a third after giving up six hits, five earned runs, hitting two batters and throwing a wild pitch.

In the eighth Norfolk continued to pile on with a Justin Turner double and a Blake Davis walk before Robby Hammock was hit by a Rocky Cherry pitch. T.J. Large came on in relief and struck out Brandon Pinckney before allowing a Joey Gathright single that brought in two more runs to make it 7-2 Tides. Large then walked Freddy Guzman to load the bases before Pawtucket’s gloves got in on the action.

Norfolk’s Jeff Fiorentino once again made solid contact up the middle but shortstop Zach Borowiak dove to the dirt and tossed the ball back-hand from his stomach, allowing second baseman Travis Denker to turn two and get Pawtucket out of the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth pinch hitter Sean Danielson legged out a close single and Chris Duncan walked as Pawtucket seemed to build some momentum. With two runners on and one out, an errant throw to second by pitcher Bob McCrory allowed Danielson to score, but that was all the offense the struggling Sox could offer.

Both teams threw up blanks in the ninth inning as Pawtucket could only manage walks from Chris Carter and Sean Danielson before Chris Duncan flied out to end the game.

Zink was tagged with his 12th loss of the year as Norfolk became the first minor league club not affiliated with the Red Sox to win at Fenway park in more than forty years.

Speaking after the game about being able to play at Fenway Park, Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson said, “I’m disappointed we’re the first team to lose here but it was still very exciting to be out on this field…it’s wonderful sitting in the dugout, it’s wonderful watching the guys running out on the field and the fans are phenomenal–they just continually cheer and it’s just great.”

“I thought realistically Charlie Zink did a good job. He’s coming back on three days rest and he didn’t really know he was starting until this morning and I don’t really use that as a crutch [at this level]… and I thought he did a fine job…It really comes down to the simple thing in the end you have to get a couple guys out and somebody’s got to go to the wall and get to the gap or you’re going to put a lot of pressure on your pitching staff.”

The “Futures at Fenway,” originally an idea proposed by Boston mayor Thomas Menino, is one of the few events of its kind in the league, bringing minor league baseball back to Fenway. Prior to the event’s inception, the last minor league game hosted at the park was between the Pittsfield Red Sox and Pawtucket Indians in 1966, according to the Red Sox.

With reduced prices and such a relatively large ballpark, the announced paid attendance for the game climbed to 32,251, placing it among the best-attended minor league games in the country.

The Paw Sox have Sunday off before embarking on an eight game road trip to Charlotte (51-61) and Gwinnett (63-50), returning to Pawtucket on August 18th to face Rochester.

Bates to PawSox?

Kevin Thomas at the Portland Press Herald is reporting that Portland Sea Dogs outfielder Aaron Bates has been promoted to the PawSox.

Bates is off to a great start for the Sea Dogs, batting .340 with 7 home runs and 39 RBI’s.  He was named the Eastern League’s Offensive Player of the Month for May.  He comes to Pawtucket at a time when the offense is struggling.

No word on what corresponding roster move the PawSox will have to make to add Bates to the team.