Yankees Downed by Red Sox, 3-1

Published on June 22, 2010 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Dave Miley only had one thing to say after Tuesday night's 3-1 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox.

"Opportunities in this game come from a multitude of reasons," Miley said. "Sometimes it's due to injury, sometimes it's due to call-ups."

"You've got to take ample opportunity of those opportunities because this game has a way of evolving, where guys are going to come back from the big leagues, guys are going to get healthy, and there's going to have to be decisions made on playing time," Miley said.

"So, the best thing you can do is make the best of the opportunities," Miley said.

This came after the Yankees' offense struggled at the plate against Pawtucket starter Robert Coello and the rest of the Red Sox staff, including a 1-5 showing with runners in scoring position and a total of nine runners left on base.

Coello shut the team down over 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The righty gave up four hits and walked one in addition to striking out 10 Yankees-tying a season-high for an opposing pitcher.

"It's frustrating," said Yankees designated hitter P.J. Pilittere. "We just couldn't put anything together. You give some credit to their starting pitcher-he was pretty good, he had some life on his fastball and we just couldn't seem to figure him out."

The Yankees only run of the night came on a solo blast by Jorge Vazquez that led off the second inning.

The rest of the night was about the "missed opportunities" that Miley was talking about.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would get five runners to second base after the homerun, but only two would make it to third base and not one of them would score.

The biggest scoring opportunity came in the seventh inning, when two one-out walks and a single by Reegie Corona would load the bases.

Justin Christian got the first chance with the bases loaded, but flew out to shallow left before Reid Gorecki flew out to right to end the inning. The two outfielders saw a total of four pitches in the inning.

"We got some guys on, we just needed to do a little bit better job with getting that big hit-somehow getting that string going," Pilittere said.

Pilittere finished the night 2-4 and is batting .346 over his last 10 games. Outside of he, Vazquez and Corona, who combined to go 7-12 in the game, the Yankees' lineup went 0-22 with three walks.

One of those walks came by Eric Bruntlett, who reached base safely for just the second time in his brief Scranton/Wilkes-Barre career. The utility man has struggled mightily with the Yankees, going 0-21 with the team.

Zach McAllister started for the Yankees and pitched well, going seven innings of three-run ball. He allowed five hits while walking two and striking one in his longest outing since May 21.

"I was happy with being out there deeper in the game tonight," said McAllister, who had struggled in his last two starts since coming off the disabled list. "As the game went on I got more comfortable out there and I started to have a better feel for my breaking balls and I was really happy with my changeup all night."

McAllister retired 14 of the last 15 batters that he faced and, after a fourth-inning homerun by Bubba Bell, held the Red Sox hitless.

"For me to be successful, I want to go deep in games and give our team a chance to win," McAllister said. "I felt I did that tonight and unfortunately we weren't able to pull through and get the runs, but I know that we've done it in the past and we'll do it again."

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will look to get back to its winning ways Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Ramon Ramirez will get the start for Pawtucket, while Dustin Moseley will take the mound for the Yankees.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from June 22, 2010


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