Salem's Lavarnway homers again

He's the reigning Carolina League Player of the Week, but Ryan Lavarnway isn't done showing off yet.

Lavarnway, batting .408 this season, homered for the fourth time in seven games on Thursday night, driving in two runs to help the Class A Advanced Salem Red Sox past the Lynchburg Hillcats, 5-2.

The Woodland Hills, Calif. native smacked a two-out, two-run homer off Travis Webb in the first inning, plating Peter Hissey to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. He finished the game 1-for-3 with a walk.

Lavarnway, Boston's sixth-round pick in the 2008 Draft, has gotten off to a huge start this season after a promotion from Class A Greenville. He's hitting .425 with 18 RBIs, 17 hits and 13 runs scored in his last 10 games.

The catcher has driven in a run in six of his last seven starts, his biggest output coming last week when he posted consecutive five-RBI efforts April 15-16 against Lynchburg and Myrtle Beach.

Lavarnway has produced multi-hit performances in six of his last 10 games, entering Thursday's game batting .413.

A right-handed swinging backstop, Lavarnway is lighting up righties so far, hitting .483 against them in 27 at-bats. He's batting .294 against left-handers and .529 with runners in scoring position.

The Yale product hit .285 with 21 homers and 87 RBIs with Greenville last season after debuting with Class A Short-Season Lowell in 2008.