Offense Quiet in 4-0 Loss to Syracuse
(Syracuse, NY) - Syracuse starter Aaron Laffey tossed a complete-game four-hit shutout as the Chiefs shut out the Pawtucket Red Sox, 4-0, Friday night at NBT Bank Stadium to hand the PawSox their fifth consecutive loss.
Pawtucket (25-24) has been held to just one run in its last 30 innings at-bat dating back to Monday night's contest against Scranton (spanning four games). Laffey (5-2) allowed four hits and one walk while striking out nine. He threw 108 pitches and pitched around a leadoff double in the fifth and seventh innings.
Syracuse (25-22), which won its fourth straight, plated all four of its runs in the first four innings, three of which came against spot-starter Chris Hernandez (1-5). After scoring a run on a Ryan Roberts throwing error in the first, the Chiefs rallied for a pair with two outs in the third when five straight batters reached base.
After Brock Peterson's two-out walk began the rally, he moved up to second on a wild pitch during Jhonatan Solano's ten-pitch at-bat. That battle ended with Solano collecting an RBI single to right scoring Peterson. Three batters later reliever John Ely walked Brandon Laird with the bases loaded to make the score 3-0.
Ely allowed a run in the fourth on Steven Souza Jr.'s RBI single past a drawn-in infield. Three Pawtucket relievers (Ely, Rich Hill and Drake Britton) combined to allow only one run and four hits over the final 5.1 innings.
Hernandez, filling in for Brandon Workman who was scratched from his scheduled start in the afternoon, allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 2.2 innings of work. Daniel Nava, Ryan Lavarnway, Dan Butler and Corey Brown collected the four Pawtucket hits.
Game three of the series is slated for a 7:00 pm first pitch on Saturday night with Pawtucket trying to avoid a sixth consecutive loss. Right-hander Rubby De La Rosa (2-3, 3.42) is slated to start for the PawSox, while Syracuse counters with righty Taylor Hill (5-1, 1.84). Radio coverage on 920 AM (WHJJ) and also streaming online begins at 6:45 pm.
Following the four-game trip, Pawtucket returns to McCoy Stadium for a four-game series with the Gwinnett Braves from Monday, May 26th through Thursday May 29th. Good seats are still available at the McCoy Stadium box office, by calling (401) 724-7300 or by visiting pawsox.com.