Paw Sox Cruise Past 'Pigs 7-1 Monday
But those hopes were dashed quickly as he gave up seven runs early on and watched the Lehigh Valley offense flounder in a 7-1 loss to the first place Red Sox.
It was a rough night for the veteran right-hander from the start. Elarton came into the game having not allowed a run in the first or second inning in three straight starts, but any chance at extending that streak was short-lived.
In the first, Jose Iglesias lined a one-out double to left field and was moved to third on a Mauro Gomez single. Then, with two outs, J.C. Linares put the Red Sox on the board with an RBI two-bagger of his own. It could have been a "minimal damage" type of inning for Elarton as he forced Alex Hassan to chop a ball to short, but Andres Blanco botched the play and two unearned runs were allowed to cross the plate.
Pawtucket was not done scoring by a long shot. They put at least a run on the board in each of the next three innings and chased Elarton from the game after just four innings of work.
It seemed to be a mixture of sloppy play, bad pitching and smart Pawtucket baseball that led to the IronPigs struggles. Stolen bases, first-to-thirds, and sacrifice flies led to two runs in the second for the Red Sox, as they extended their lead to 5-0 after just two frames.
They would add single runs in the third and fourth on RBI singles from centerfielder Che-Hsuan Lin and Linares.
Elarton left the game trailing by seven and on the hook for his ninth loss of the season. Five of the runs were earned and he allowed nine hits and a walk while striking out none in his four innings on the mound.
Elarton gave way to Tyson Brummett for two innings, followed by David Purcey and Joe Savery. Remarkably, they gave up a combined one hit in their four total innings of work but the damages was already done, and Pawtucket was not letting Lehigh Valley claw its way back into the game.
Red Sox starter Zach Stewart went five strong innings, allowing just three hits collecting four strikeouts. The Pawtucket bullpen was just as strong as Lehigh Valley's through the middle and late innings. Clayton Mortenson and Chris Carpenter worked perfect innings, and Daniel Bard allowed just one walk as they took the game into the ninth for Jose De La Torre.
De La Torre did allow a run on a Jake Fox sacrifice fly, but Lehigh Valley came no closer as they dropped the finale of their six game set with Pawtucket, 7-1.
With Lehigh Valley winning three of the first four games, they could have made a huge charge for first place in the IL North if they had been able to win the final two, but the losses set them right back into third, 2.5 games behind Pawtucket.
The winner of the game was Stewart, as he went the minimum five innings and left with the 7-0 lead. He improved to 3-2 on the season.
Elarton, who had been pitching well of late until Monday, was hooked with the loss. Since May 16 his only decisions have been losses after starting the season with a 5-1 record.
Pawtucket featured a balanced offense, with three players that had multiple hits and four players that collected at least one run batted in.
Iglesias was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, Linares knocked in two runs with two hits and scored a run, and Dan Butler collected two hits in four trips to the plate.
Lin, Jason Repko, and Hassan had the other three runs batted in for the Red Sox.
For the IronPigs, the offense was hard to come by. They managed only four hits, and from just two players. Cesar Hernandez had two hits and a run scored and Steve Susdorf went 2-for-3 hitting in the seventh spot in the order.
The lone RBI came from Fox's ninth inning sacrifice fly.
The IronPigs will return home Wednesday after an off day Tuesday to start a three series, six game homestand against Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester.
Wednesday's 7:05 game will feature IronPigs' ace Tyler Cloyd (11-1, 1.93) squaring off against the righty Jeurys Familia (7-7, 5.18) for the Bisons.