Cuevas Dominates Chiefs in 5-0 Victory

(Pawtucket, RI) - The Pawtucket Red Sox sparkled on the mound and made solid contact at the plate all night, using 14 hits and a dominant start from William Cuevas to win the first of six consecutive contests against the Syracuse Chiefs, 5-0, on Monday at McCoy Stadium.

Cuevas (2-1) shined in his first outing since a short relief stint with Boston. The righthander tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits in the longest scoreless outing of his professional career and for any PawSox (11-8) pitcher this season

"I felt really good with all my pitches and kept a good tempo tonight," said Cuevas.

The first seven hitters in the Chiefs' (9-9) lineup went a combined 0-for-19 against Cuevas.   

"He was terrific, very efficient," said manager Kevin Boles. "He induced contact early and I thought his tempo and pace with Swihart was terrific.

Kyle Martin pitched the final two innings, striking out the final four Syracuse batters he faced, finishing off Pawtucket's third shutout of the season.

After stranding three hits over the first two innings, the PawSox rallied for two runs in the third inning against Syracuse starter Paolo Espino (0-2).

Marco Hernandez and Blake Swihart both singled with one out and Sam Travis followed with a double to drive home Hernandez. Swihart would score on Justin Maxwell's two-out infield single.

Travis doubled to lead off the fifth inning and came around to score after Chiefs third baseman Scott Sizemore could not handle a groundball.

In total, the PawSox collected 11 hits against Espino over his 5.1 innings of work, but stranded 12 runners on base over the course of the night.

Jantzen Witte delivered his first Triple-A RBI and Pawtucket's fourth run with a two-out double up the gap in left-center in the seventh inning. Swihart tacked on his season-high third hit of the game with an RBI double in the eighth to cap the Red Sox' offensive attack.

Hernandez, Swihart, Travis, Maxwell and Witte all recorded multi-hit games for Pawtucket. Hernandez and Swihart have both reached base in every game they have played for the Sox this season.

"[Pawtucket hitters] worked to all fields tonight," said Boles. "I thought we played a clean game all the way around."

The PawSox will complete the homestand and its quick two-game series with Syracuse at McCoy Stadium tomorrow afternoon at 12:05 pm. Pawtucket lefthander Brian Johnson (1-2, 2.51) is scheduled to square off with Syracuse rightander A.J. Cole (1-1, 7.71).

Good seats are still available at the McCoy Stadium box office, by calling (401) 724-7300 or by visiting pawsox.com. Radio coverage begins on WHJJ and throughout the PawSox radio network at 11:35 am.