Mookie Betts Promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket

Portland, Maine- The Boston Red Sox have promoted Portland Sea Dogs second baseman Mookie Betts to Triple-A Pawtucket. Outfielder Jesus Loya will join the Sea Dogs from Red Sox Extended Spring Training to fill out Portland's 25-man roster. 

Betts leaves the Sea Dogs with the best average in the Eastern League at .355 (76-for-214). He also paced the league in hits (76) and runs scored (56) and finished among the top five leaders in stolen bases (2nd), doubles (2nd), OBP (2nd), slugging percentage (4th), extra-base hits (3rd), total bases (4th), and walks (2nd).

The Brentwood, Tennessee native is ranked as the #5 prospect in the Red Sox system and the 75th overall according to Baseball America. Betts began his Double-A career by reaching safely in 36 straight games, in which he hit .393 (59-for-150) with 44 runs and 19 extra-base hits. 

On May 17 vs. Trenton, the second baseman had his streak of 66 straight games reaching base streak snapped when he went 0-for-4. Although the streak was put to an end, Betts had two RBI and turned an unbelievable double play, which saved the game and sealed the win for Portland. He was named the Eastern League Player of the Month for April 2014 and Eastern League Player of the Week honors for the week ending April 14th, 2014. 

With just 54 Double-A games under his belt, Betts becomes the first position player to move through Portland in less than 60 games. His predecessors include Jackie Bradley, Jr. (61 games), Garin Cecchini (66), Dustin Pedroia (66), Jacoby Ellsbury (67), and Xander Bogaerts (79).

Betts joins position players Travis Shaw, Carlos Rivero, and Shannon Wilkerson along with reliever Jose Valdez as other Sea Dogs to earn a promotion this season.

Loya was signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent on January 19th, 2010 and has been assigned to a level higher than Low-A for the first time in his career. The outfielder has logged 15 games with the Greenville Drive in 2014. He hit .170 (8-for-47) with eight runs scored. The Chihuahua, Mexico native is in his fifth season of professional baseball. 2013 served as a career year for Loya as he hit .296 (45-for-152) with 11 extra-base hits, 13 RBI, eight walks, 21 strikeouts, and five steals in seven attempts. 

The Portland Sea Dogs begin a six game homestand Tuesday night at 7:00 PM against the Erie SeaWolves. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or order online at www.seadogs.com.