Maier's Blast Caps PawSox Sweep
April 14, 2013 - International League (IL1)
Pawtucket Red Sox News Release
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Making his regular season debut in the Red Sox organization, Mitch Maier delivered a two-out, three-run homer in Sunday's 11th inning to lift Pawtucket to a 5-2 victory over Rochester and four-game series sweep of the Red Wings.
Before a paid crowd of 5,657 at McCoy Stadium, Red Wings reliever Anthony Slama (LP, 0-3) walked two of the first four hitters he faced, before falling behind Maier, 2-and-0. Slama's next pitch resulted in a low line-drive hugging the foul pole in the right-field corner.
Maier batted .346 in spring training with Boston, but sprained his left wrist, forcing him to remain in Fort Myers before joining Pawtucket. With Maier's final swing, in his fifth plate appearance Sunday, the ex-Kansas City Royal helped the PawSox to a 9-1 start, the best in franchise history.
Pawtucket immediately fell behind, when Clete Thomas led off the game with a home run off Jeremy Kehrt. A fourth-inning error by third baseman Drew Sutton led to Rochester's second run and a 2-0 lead. Sutton, however, made amends with a game-tying, two-run single off reliever Daniel Turpen in the bottom of the seventh.
Meanwhile, the PawSox bullpen was in shutdown mode, particularly Jose De La Torre and Ryan Rowland-Smith, who co-authored 6.0 hitless innings. Rowland-Smith (1-0) earned the win by retiring all nine batters faced.
The homestand continues Monday at 6:15 p.m., with a visit by Lehigh Valley to open a four-game series. Pawtucket is scheduled to start righthander Allen Webster vs. Tyler Cloyd (0-2).
Afterthoughts: David Ortiz was a late scratch from the starting lineup...Brandon Snyder collected two of Pawtucket's eight hits...The Sox trailed in all four games vs. Rochester, but wound up outscoring the Red Wings, 24-8, in the series...Righthander Steven Wright (1-0) was originally scheduled to start on Sunday, but instead will pitch Tuesday vs. Lehigh Valley.
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International League Stories from April 14, 2013
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