IL1 Pawtucket Red Sox

Wilkerson Fans Nine in 3-1 PawSox Victory

May 28, 2016 - International League (IL1)
Pawtucket Red Sox News Release


Pawtucket Red Sox Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson
Pawtucket Red Sox Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson
(Pawtucket Red Sox)

(Pawtucket, RI) - Aaron Wilkerson dazzled on the mound in his return to the Pawtucket Red Sox, striking out six over 6.2, three-hit innings, earning his first Triple-A win, a 3-1 victory over the Indianapolis Indians on Saturday evening at McCoy Stadium.

Wilkerson (1-0) teamed with relievers Kyle Martin, Pat Light and Wesley Wright to surrender only two hits to the Indians (24-23) after the first inning.

Justin Maxwell's two-run home run (4) in the first inning proved to be all the offense Pawtucket (24-25) would need.

The night got off to an inauspicious start for Wilkerson, as the second batter of the game, Max Moroff, homered (5) just over the wall in right center field.

But Wilkerson settled in after that, allowing one hit in his final 5.2 innings of work. The righthander walked two in his second career Triple-A outing and first since April 22.

"I was able to locate my fastball and keep the ball down in the zone," Wilkerson said. "I had a pretty good routine coming into today and felt really good mechanically."

He threw 74 of his 106 pitches for strikes and retired 15 of 16 Indianapolis batters at one point.

"It was a good boost for me to come up and do as well as I did tonight," he said.

Wilkerson fanned Wily Garcia to end his outing and left to a McCoy standing ovation.

Maxwell quickly put Wilkerson and the PawSox in the lead, 2-1, with his mammoth blast to left center field on the first pitch he saw from Indians starter Trevor Williams (0-1) in the opening frame.

Pawtucket added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh.

Sandy Leon walked and Jantzen Witte singled off the glove of the diving shortstop, Gift Ngoepe, to put runners on the corner with nobody out. The next batter, Deven Marrero, flared an RBI single into right field.

Mike Miller then reached on an error to load the bases with nobody out, bur Indians reliever Trey Haley used a foul pop, force out at home and a diving play by Ngoepe to hold Pawtucket's lead to 3-1.

Martin retired all four batters he faced before Light and Wright combined to seal the game in the ninth.

The PawSox will conclude their homestand with a rubber match against Indianapolis tomorrow evening at 6:05 p.m. Pawtucket has yet to announce its starter for tomorrow, but the team will face top prospect and Indians righty Jameson Taillon (3-2, 1.82). Radio coverage begins on WHJJ (920 AM) and throughout the PawSox radio network begins at 5:35 p.m.

Good seats for tomorrow's game Indianapolis, which features postgame fireworks, are still available at the McCoy Stadium box office, by calling (401) 724-7300 or by visiting pawsox.com.

Check out the Pawtucket Red Sox Statistics




Images from this story

Pawtucket Red Sox Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson
Pawtucket Red Sox Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson
   



International League Stories from May 28, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central