PawSox Beat Braves, Gwinnett Celebrates Boston Strong
Ken Bell
PawSox news release…
PAWSOX, ACEVES ROLL TO 7-3 WIN
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. — On an evening designated as Boston Strong Night at Gwinnett's Coolray Field, the Pawtucket Red Sox took advantage of seven walks, two hit batsmen and two errors to prevail by a 7-3 final in front of 4,033.
A portion of the proceeds were donated to One Fund Boston, to aid victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. In addition, four sports stars with ties to The Hub were on hand to sign autographs and deliver ceremonial first pitches. They included Matt Ryan, the former Boston College quarterback now with the Atlanta Falcons, ex-Celtic guard Dee Brown, two-time All-Pro Patriots safety Rodney Harrison and longtime Red Sox captain Jason Varitek.
Meanwhile, Varitek's one-time battery mate Alfredo Aceves took the mound, making his second appearance since being optioned to Triple-A.
Aceves (W, 2-0) was greeted rudely by a double from Todd Cunningham and one-out homer by Joey Terdoslavich to give Gwinnett a 2-0, first-inning lead. But he overcame his shaky start and, despite allowing the leadoff man to reach three of the next four frames, completed seven innings and struck out six.
In the top of the fourth, his teammates gave Aceves a lead with which to work, thanks in large part to his counterpart Daniel Rodriguez. A lefty who had retired eight straight, Rodriguez(L, 1-3) walked the first batters before surrendering an RBI single by Brandon Snyder.
The PawSox then took a 3-2 lead after Rodriguez's third walk of the inning loaded the bases and a ground ball by Ronald Bermudez resulted in a two-run throwing error by catcher Jose Yepez.
Pawtucket stretched its lead with an RBI single by Jonathan Diaz, who reached safely four times in his third straight start at shortstop, in the seventh inning.
Ahead 4-2, Jose De La Torre took over in the eighth and retired the side in order. De La Torre has yielded just one hit in his last seven outings, totaling 11.2 innings pitched.
The Sox scored three more runs on one hit in the ninth. The inning opened with an error and included two walks and two hit batters, both with the bases loaded.
In the ninth, Pedro Beato allowed a home run by Alden Carrithers to cap the scoring, before recording the final out with the staff's eighth strikeout of the night.
Pawtucket has won the first two games of this series, improving to 19-13 overall, while Gwinnett has lost its last 10 contests. Game 3 of their four-day set is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. on Wednesday, when Terry Doyle (2-2, 3.03) confronts Sean Gilmartin (2-1, 2.70).
