Ruf’s Solo Homer Leads IronPigs Past PawSox

Pawtucket Red Sox Press Release

(Allentown, PA) – Despite another terrific outing from starter Brian Johnson, the Pawtucket Red Sox could not take advantage of their 10 hits and 14 baserunners in a 1-0 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park.

Johnson (5-5) surrendered one run on four hits in seven innings of work. He struck out two and walked none.

After hitting the second batter he faced, Johnson retired 11 straight IronPigs hitters, holding Lehigh Valley (73-50) out of the hit column for the first four innings.

Over his last four starts dating to July 29, Johnson is 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA.

The lone run of the game came on Darin Ruf’s home run (16) that led off the seventh inning. He knocked Johnson’s curveball over the wall in left field.

Noe Ramirez tossed a 1-2-3 eighth to complete a four-hitter for Pawtucket (65-58).

The PawSox made hard contact in several of their at-bats (on both hits and outs) against IronPigs starter Anthony Vasquez, but he miraculously escaped jams in each of his five innings of work.

After allowing a single to the first batter of the game, Rusney Castillo, Vasquez picked Castillo off first base.

In the second inning, Vasquez pitched around two singles thanks to a ground ball double play.

In the fourth inning, Allen Craig tried to complete a double on a ball he hit off the center field fence, but center fielder Cam Perkins threw him out at second base.

Pawtucket wasted two more singles in the fifth inning when Chris Young grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Young went 0-for-3 with a deep fly out and two groundouts as the designated hitter. In four games on his rehabilitation assignment, Young is 2-for-12 with two doubles.

In total, the PawSox stranded 10 baserunners (eight hits and two walks) over five frames against Vasquez.

Jantzen Witte led off the ninth inning with a single to left field, but he tried to advance to second base when the left fielder Ruf threw the ball past second base. The pitcher Luis Garcia backed up the play and threw out Witte at second.

Witte went 3-for-4 in the game, to improve his average since July 22 to a league-leading .385.

Allen Craig collected two hits in his third Triple-A game since returning from the disabled list.

Rusney Castillo went 1-for-2 with two walks. He has five walks in his last three games, equaling the number of free passes he earned in his previous 46 games dating to the start of June.

All 10 Pawtucket hits were singles.

Colton Murray (2-2) allowed only one hit in two innings of relief to earn the victory for Lehigh Valley.

The PawSox complete their three-game series with tomorrow’s rubber match against the IronPigs at 7:05 p.m. Pawtucket righthander Justin Haley (7-3, 2.78) is scheduled to make the start against Lehigh Valley righty Ben Lively (7-5, 3.42). Radio coverage on WHJJ (920 AM) and throughout the PawSox radio network begins at 6:35 p.m.

Pawtucket returns home for a four-game homestand on Monday. Good seats for those contests against the Syracuse Chiefs and the IronPigs are still available at the McCoy Stadium box office; call (401) 724-7300 or visit pawsox.com to get your tickets today.