THE HIGHLIGHTS: Chris Carter and Jeff Natale each had four hits and drove in two runs to key an 18-hit attack. David Ross added three hits and Gil Velazquez had a three-run homer. Marcus McBeth, Beau Vaughn and Chris Smith combined to strike out nine while shutting out Lehigh Valley over the final six innings after Bartolo Colon’s injury rehabilitation assignment was complete. Colon recovered from a four-run second inning to strike out the side in his third and final inning.

KEY TO THE GAME: The PawSox strung together hits to score early and late. Four straight two-out singles — by Carter, Ross, Keith Ginter and Natale — produced three runs in the first. Carter and Ross had back-to-back RBI singles with two out in the second for a 5-0 lead. That production came after all four of Monday’s runs were scored with two out. “It has kind of been uncanny,” PawSox manager Ron Johnson said. “It’s getting to the point where when we get two outs in an inning, I’m thinking, ‘OK, we’re in great shape.’ ” After Brandon Watson’s three-run homer pulled the IronPigs to within 5-4 in the bottom of the second, the score stayed that way until the ninth, when the first six PawSox had hits. The last two hits in that streak were back-to-back homers by Velazquez and Jonathan Van Every. Carter, Ross, Ginter and Natale had consecutive hits for the second time in the game to start the six-run outburst.

Jeff Bailey started at first base last night for the Red Sox. He did so as the International League MVP. Bailey was named winner of the award yesterday afternoon. His ex-PawSox teammate, Charlie Zink, was named the I.L.'s Most Valuable Pitcher.

Bailey and Zink, along with Pawtucket's Chris Carter and Joe Thurston, were also named to the season-ending I.L. All-Star Team. Bailey becomes the first PawSox player in 22 years to be named the league's MVP. Former PawSox player Pat Dodson won the award in 1986.

Other PawSox MVPs include Jim Rice (1974), Ted Cox (1977), Gary Allenson (1978) and Dave Stapleton (1979).

Bailey, 29, had a huge season for the PawSox. Even though he's with Boston - his third stint with the Sox this season - Bailey still leads the I.L. with 88 runs scored and is second with a .562 slugging percentage. His .405 on-base percentage is third in the league and his 25 home runs also ranks third.

"It was my best year ever," said Bailey, who almost did not re-sign with the Red Sox organization during the offseason. "It was a great decision [to re-sign]. Not only for being with Boston right now, and for getting this award, it opens a lot of doors for next year. I won't have to stress out as much during the offseason."

If the Portland Sea Dogs swing the bats the way they did on Tuesday, they will be strutting toward their fourth straight playoff appearance.

The Sea Dogs banged out 21 hits in a doubleheader sweep of New Britain at Hadlock Field, beating the Rock Cats 6-4 and 7-2.

With the sweep and Binghamton's 4-3 loss in New Hampshire, Portland (72-62) moved three games ahead of the Mets (70-66) for the second playoff spot in the Eastern League Northern Division.

With six games to go, the Sea Dogs' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is four (the combination of Portland wins and Binghamton losses).

In Tuesday's sweep, several Sea Dogs stood out.

Shortstop Argenis Diaz, who is on the Red Sox 40-man roster because of his superior defense, showed some power with a 5-for-7 night, including a double, home run, two RBI and four runs. He improved his batting average to .287.

Third baseman Jorge Jimenez bumped his average up to .274 by going 5 for 8, including a two-run triple in the second game.

Zach Daeges, batting a team-high .316, knocked in four runs, going 4 for 7 with a double and triple. Daeges has 34 doubles, two short of Brandon Moss' franchise record set in 2006.

Lars Anderson, hitting .308, went 2 for 4 and also reached on three walks.

Josh Reddick added a two-run homer, his sixth.

Portland pitchers contributed, too. Mike James (5-4) relieved in the first game and extended his streak of consecutive scoreless appearances to eight with two shutout innings, and closer Daniel Bard lowered his ERA to 1.99 with a perfect seventh inning for his seventh save.

In the second game, Dave Gassner (8-5) extended his franchise-record win streak to seven starts, allowing four hits in six innings. Chad Rhoades finished it with a 1-2-3 seventh.

he JetHawks never trailed in winning the first game of their season-closing seven game road trip 6-2 Tuesday in Stockton.

The JetHawks had scoring opportunities in the first three innings, but broke through with the game’s first scoring in the fourth. After 1B Zak Farkes walked with out, Luis Segovia ripped a two-out double into right-center field to chase Farkes around from first. Segovia scored the second Lancaster run when the Stockton infield allowed a Yamaico Navarro popup to drop near the mound.

Meanwhile, Lancaster starter Derrick Loop worked around baserunners of his own in the first three innings. However, with a 2-0 lead, he gave up a solo homerun to the Ports slugging third baseman Chris Carter leading off the fourth to cut the JetHawks lead to 2-1. It was Carter’s 27th homer of the year and his 100th RBI. Loop improved to 5-0 by allowing just one run over five innings.

The JetHawks answered Carter’s homer with three longballs of their own. Catcher Jon Still led off the fifth with a solo jack, Navarro drilled a two-run shot in the sixth and Jason Place added one more for a 6-2 lead in the eighth.

Despite the debut of Boston Red Sox first-round draft pick Casey Kelly, the Lowell Spinners committed four errors and were cooled off yesterday afternoon by Staten Island, 9-1.

Lowell saw its four-game winning streak snapped, but the Spinners (36-27), who had won 11 of 13, still lead the Stedler Division by a comfortable margin.

Lowell's magic number to clinch the division remains five because Oneonta won last night.

Kelly, the 30th overall pick in June's draft, signed with the Red Sox on July 17 and reported to the Gulf Coast Red Sox, picking baseball over the University of Tennessee, where he was scheduled to play football and baseball.

In his Spinners debut, Kelly, a shortstop, went 0-for-1 at the plate. He was drafted out of Sarasota (Fla.) High School.

A two-way standout at Sarasota High School, Kelly hit .473 (44-for-93) with 13 doubles, 5 homers, 31 RBI and 11 steals as a senior.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-hander also pitched in 12 games, going 8-1 with 2 saves and a 1.16 ERA. He fanned 77 and walked just 12 over 66.2 innings pitched. Since reporting to the GCL Red Sox, Kelly hit .173 with five doubles, a home run and nine RBI.