STORIES
PAWSOX
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Red Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon made his second rehab start of his current stint on the DL, working three scoreless innings. The right-hander allowed only three hits and struck out three while throwing 34 pitches (27 strikes). The veteran, who has been on the DL since June 16 with a lower-back strain, was efficiently pounding the strike zone yesterday and topped out at 91 mph on the radar gun. Colon will pitch again for Pawtucket on Friday in Syracuse and will increase his work load to four innings or 55 to 60 pitches. … Pawtucket’s Jeff Bailey smoked his 25th homer of the season with a solo shot in the bottom of the third inning. The shot hit the billboards beyond the walkway behind the left-field berm. The 25 homers are a career-high for Bailey. He hit 22 for the PawSox in 2006. “He’s done a phenomenal job,” said Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson. “He’s a veteran hitter who is still getting better. He’s becoming a better hitter each year, and obviously, the results are showing this year. He’s done a good job.”
SEADOGS
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Fortunately for Portland, today is an off-day.
The Sea Dogs can use the time to regroup after dropping five of six games to the Connecticut Defenders.
Sunday's 10-9 loss might have been the most difficult to swallow because Portland led 8-6 in the eighth only to have Connecticut erupt for four runs to take a 10-8 lead.
Portland scored a run in the ninth and had the tying run thrown out at the plate to end the game.
Sunday's game was a microcosm of the series, in that the Sea Dogs left too many runners on base, 12 in this game and 49 in the series.
"The story of the whole series was they got guys on base and got them in and we got guys on base and didn't – unless they made a mistake," Portland Manager Arnie Beyeler said. "Our guys had to work for everything they got because (Connecticut pitchers) threw strikes and worked ahead in the count.
"We gave them opportunities and they took advantage of them."
Portland did cash in on a golden opportunity in the ninth.
Josh Reddick drew a leadoff walk from Jason Waddell and reached second on Ryan Khoury's third single.
Iggy Suarez dropped a sacrifice, but Jorge Jimenez ended an 11-pitch at-bat by popping out to short right, which couldn't score Reddick.
Zach Daeges then hit a grounder to the left side that shortstop Kyle Haines stabbed with a backhand dive. Reddick scored on the infield hit, but when Khoury tried to score from second, Haines, while propped on his right knee, threw a strike to catcher Pablo Sandoval for the final out.
Portland could have made the ninth irrelevant if it had capitalized on a two-on, no-out situation in the eighth. But Steve Palazzo (5-2) struck out Daeges and Aaron Bates, and after walking Lars Anderson, struck out Mark Wagner.
Lost in the rubble was a commendable performance by Ryne Lawson, who made his second Double-A start after being recalled from Greenville early last week.
JETHAWKS
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A chance to make a good homestand a great homestand slipped away from the JetHawks Sunday evening. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull in front and beat the JetHawks 7-5. Despite losing two out of three in their series against the Quakes, the JetHawks still went 4-2 on the homestand. They remain in first place by a game and a half over Rancho Cucamonga with 22 games left in the regular.
The longest hitting streak of the season for a JetHawks player came to an end. Yamaico Navarro, who had hit safely in 18 straight games, finally fell short. Navarro had a final chance with two outs in the ninth. The JetHawks had already scored once on back-to-back two out doubles by Kris Negron and Jason Place to get Lancaster to within two, but Navarro grounded out to end the game.
DRIVE
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David Mailman and David Marks each drove in two runs as the Greenville Drive snapped a seven-game losing skid with a 8-3 victory over Kannapolis at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium on Sunday.
The Drive (21-27) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning with two hits off of Kannapolis starter Miguel Socolovich. Michael Almanzar tripled with two outs, before Marks hit a home run over the right field fence.
Greenville added three more runs in the third inning when Oscar Tejada's single to center field scored both Carlos Fernandez-Oliva and Ryan Kalish.
Kannapolis shortstop Eduardo Escobar's throwing error allowed Zachary Penprase to cross home with Greenville's fifth run. Mailman's home run came with one-out in the fourth inning. The solo shot, Mailman's fifth of the season, gave the Drive a 6-0 lead.
SPINNERS
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Hudson Valley starter Tyree Hayes tossed a complete-game four hitter, silencing the Lowell offense as the Spinners fell 4-0 to the Renegades in front of 5,030 fans on Kids’ Baseball Glove Giveaway, sponsored by the Local IBEW 103 and NECA.
The loss was the Spinners’ fourth loss in the last five games, and it was the third time the Spinners have been shutout in the last week.
Hudson Valley (28-24) got all the offense it would need in the second inning as leftfielder Kyeong Kang drove a ball deep over the right field wall that bounced onto Aiken St. for a two-run homerun.
The Renegades added single runs in the fifth and ninth inning, both on sacrifice flies, to complete the scoring.
Lowell (26-24) had just one runner reach second base, courtesy of a second-inning double by Luis Sumoza.