Another Day, Another Walk-Off: PawSox Win 4-3
Published on August 2, 2011 under International League (IL1)
Pawtucket Red Sox News Release
When you're doing a post-game interview with a face covered in shaving cream, it's usually a good sign for both you and your team.
Nate Spears turned on a Carlos Fischer 3-1 fastball and deposited the pitch on a line into the Louisville Bats right field bullpen. In an instant, Spears turned a 3-2 PawSox deficit into a 4-3 victory where, for the second consecutive night, Pawtucket scored twice in the ninth inning for a come-from-behind victory.
Spears had his arms pinned behind his back by Ryan Lavarnway as he got a towel full of shaving cream from a pair of teammates. A smile was tough to discern under all the Barbasol, but he was all smiles as he completed the on-field interview after hitting Pawtucket's first walk-off homerun since Dusty Brown hit one on May 27 last year.
Spears almost didn't get a chance for his heroics. The first two batters of the ninth were retired by Fischer before Che-Hsuan Lin worked a 10-pitch walk with two outs. Lin represented the tying run at first base as Spears stepped up.
Spears watched three pitches go by for a quick 3-0 count and it appeared as if Lavarnway, the on-deck batter, would be the one with the chance to be a hero Tuesday afternoon. Instead, Fischer pumped in a 96 MPH fastball for strike one, and Spears ripped a top-spin line drive into the visitor's bullpen to send the 10,555 in attendance home happy.
Lin was 0-for-1 on the game with four walks, but his final walk proved to be the most important. He was held hitless in ten at-bats during the four-game series against Louisville, but had nine walks and a hit-by-pitch to make his on-base percentage .500 (10-for-20).
Lars Anderson started the scoring for Pawtucket with an opposite field two-run homer for No. 11 of the season. It drove home Jed Lowrie who reached one batter earlier with a two-out single, for his first hit since beginning his rehab assignment.
After Pawtucket jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Louisville chipped away at the lead before scoring runs in the second and fourth innings before plating the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly.
Louisville right fielder Jeremy Hermida was originally given the day-off Tuesday. Louisville is scheduled to have an off-day Wednesday as they travel to Scranton Wilkes-Barre to begin a series Thursday so Manager Rick Sweet was trying to get Hermida a two-day break towards the end of a long season. However, Hermida asked his way into the Louisville lineup and hit a pair of homeruns to leadoff the second and fourth innings against Pawtucket starter Matt Fox.
Even though Hermida was making it look easy against Fox, his teammates were baffled by Pawtucket's lone All-Star this season. Through the first five innings, the other eight batters for Louisville were a combined 1-for-16 with nine strikeouts
Fox had struggled in his last eight starts in which he is 2-2 with a 7.71 ERA after starting the season 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA in his first 15 appearances. He got back on track and had a season-high nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings Tuesday. The only two runs he allowed were Hermida's homers and aside from that, Fox allowed just two other hits.
Lowrie was in the lineup as the designated hitter in his second game of his rehab assignment. Last night he played three innings at shortstop before being replaced by Jose Iglesias, but Tuesday he had three at-bats before being pinch-hit for by Lavarnway in the seventh inning. Lowrie finished the day 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Jason Rice (2-4) earns the win for Pawtucket after inducing a double-play to end the top of the ninth inning after coming in the game in relief of Hideki Okajima to keep the score at 3-2.
The PawSox have Wednesday off before the Buffalo Bisons enter town for a four-game series beginning Thursday. Brandon Duckworth (8-6, 3.86 ERA) will take the bump for Pawtucket against Buffalo's Dylan Owen (5-5, 4.57 ERA).
Thursday's game against Buffalo will be PawSox Team Poster and Autograph Night at McCoy Stadium. All fans attending the game will receive a full-color PawSox Team Poster. From 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. fans will be allowed on the field for pictures and autographs of all their favorite PawSox players. PawSox Team Poster and Autograph Night is sponsored by Honey Dew Donuts, WEEI-FM and Cox Communications. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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