PawSox Win 7-2, Even Series 1-1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 5, 2013
ROCHESTER, NY - Clay Buchholz and a stable of five relievers shut down Rochester in a 7-2 PawSox victory to even the Best-of-Five series at a game apiece as Semi-Finals shift to McCoy Stadium after two games at Frontier Field.
The PawSox had an ace up their sleeve for Game Two as Clay Buchholz made his second rehab start with Pawtucket Thursday night.
After a pair of scoreless frames, the PawSox struck first in the 3rd inning. Pawtucket loaded the bases on three straight singles before Alex Hassan drew a walk forcing in the first run. Mark Hamilton followed by hitting into a double play, but another run scored making it a 2-0 lead.
The PawSox added three more in the 3rd thanks to a two base error that started the rally. After a groundout, Christian Vazquez delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Heiker Meneses singled, Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled and both scored on Brock Holt's two-run single to give Pawtucket a 5-0 advantage.
Buchholz tossed three scoreless frames with five strikeouts, but ran into a little trouble in the 4th as he walked the lead-off batter. After an RBI double by Deibinson Romero made it 5-1, Buchholz retired the next two batters before allowing an RBI single to Ray Olmedo to bring the score to 5-2. The righty would be taken out of the game after throwing 3.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 71 pitches, 52 for strikes.
The PawSox offense tacked on two more for insurance purposes in the 5th as Bryce Brentz doubled home a run and Vazquez singled to right with two outs to score Brentz and give Pawtucket a 7-2 lead.
The bullpen took it from there as the combination of five relievers, Brayan Villarreal, Alex Wilson, Chris Martin, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Anthony Carter fired 5.1 scoreless innings allowing just three hits.
The series will shift to McCoy Stadium Friday night at 7:05pm for Game Three of the best of five set with Rochester. Pawtucket will send knuckleballer Steven Wright (8-7, 3.46) to the mound against Red Wings lefty Pat Dean (3-2, 2.03).
Tickets for all possible 2013 PawSox playoff games at McCoy Stadium are on sale at the Box Office at McCoy. Fans can also charge tickets with any major credit card by calling the PawSox at (401) 724-7300 or visiting the PawSox website at www.pawsox.com.
Tickets for the 2013 Governors' Cup Semi-Finals and Governors' Cup Finals will be priced the same as regular-season tickets. Box Seats are $12.00 apiece while General Admission are $8.00 for Adults and $5.00 for Children (aged 12 & under) & Senior Citizens. Fans who purchase a PawSox Playoff Pack (a strip of box seats for all six potential PawSox home playoff games) will receive a discounted price of $66 for all 6 tickets.