PawSox Slug Past 'Pigs, 6-4

Pawtucket, RI - Rubby De La Rosa threw five shutout innings and Pawtucket built a 6-0 lead and held off a late Lehigh Valley rally and defeated the Iron Pigs, 6-4, Saturday afternoon in front of 2,791 fans at McCoy Stadium. 

De La Rosa (1-0) allowed only two baserunners (two hits) and struck out five in winning his season debut. The right-hander retired 15 of the 17 hitters he faced. Brayan Villareal pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his first save of the season.

Pawtucket (2-1) plated two runs in the second and fourth innings against losing pitcher Sean O'Sullivan (0-1) to take the lead for good. Brandon Snyder opened the scoring with an opposite-field two-run home run, the first long ball of the season for a PawSox player.

An RBI double from Dan Butler followed by an RBI single by Mike McCoy made the score 4-0 in the fourth. Pawtucket added single runs with two outs in the fifth and sixth against reliever Mike Nesseth, the first coming on and Garin Cecchini's RBI single and the second on Alex Hassan's RBI double that made the score 6-0.

Lehigh Valley rallied for four runs in the seventh, three charged to reliever Chris Resop who walked the first two hitters and then allowed a two-run double to Koyie Hill. Drake Britton followed Resop and allowed one more unearned run, but escaped further damage in the seventh and eighth innings.

Cecchini went 3-for-3 with a walk to pace the PawSox' ten-hit attack. Snyder went 2-for-3 with a home run and walk.

The finale of the four-game series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm. Right-hander Jeremy Kehrt will get the ball for manager Kevin Boles, while righty Jonathan Pettibone (NR) is expected to start for the Iron Pigs. Limited tickets are available at the McCoy Stadium box office, by calling (401) 724-7300 or by visiting pawsox.com. Radio coverage on 920 AM (WHJJ) and also streaming online begins at 12:50 pm.