PawSox swept away
PAWTUCKET – A dropped fly ball by Bryce Brentz started the ninth-inning carnage.
The error opened the floodgates and then some for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who scored five times in the frame to complete a three-game sweep and extend Pawtucket’s losing skid to six games. A6-3 loss on Wednesday night before 4,425 fans made for a very quiet home clubhouse inside McCoy Stadium, which was pretty understandable given the PawSox stood three outs away from enjoying what’s been a foreign concept around these parts lately – victory.
Had Brentz made a play that he’s no doubt made plenty of times, perhaps Wednesday’s outcome would have featured a more upbeat clubhouse.
The PawSox took a 3-1 lead heading into the ninth behind six solid innings from Marcus Walden and a two-run home run by Ryan Court. Instead, the top of the ninth began with a misadventure with things only getting worse from there.
“He was right in position. It just hit off his glove,” PawSox manager Kevin Boles said about the costly misplay by Brentz.
The error was followed by a ghastly sequence from hard-throwing reliever Ty Buttrey. In the span of five batters, he allowed three walks and a double. One of the free passes came with the bases loaded and enabled the IronPigs (48-24) to tie game.
Out came Buttrey, in came Chandler Shepherd, who earlier in the day was taken off the disabled list. J.P. Crawford greeted Shepherd with a bases-clearing double to put Lehigh Valley up three runs. Buttrey was charged with a blown save and a loss after allowing five runs (four earned) while recording just one out.
“There was an uptick in effort level with below-average command,” Boles said about Buttrey. “There’s going to be times when there’s errors behind you, but you’ve still got to keep your wits about you. It looked like he was trying to do a little too much.”
Pedro Beato – a member of the 2012 Governors’ Cup winner for the PawSox – pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth to Blake Swihart en route to picking up his 22nd save.
Walden was in line for the win after holding the IronPigs to one run with six strikeouts and two walks. Pitching on just three days’ rest, the right-hander tossed 77 pitches before giving way to Brandon Workman, who struck out four in two innings.
Brentz started the game in left field. He was shifted to right after Rusney Castillo was forced to exit in the third inning due to tightness in his groin, which he felt after collecting a single that extended his on-base streak to 23 games.
“We’ll see how he checks out (Thursday),” Boles said.
Ben Taylor was in the PawSox clubhouse, two days after tossing a scoreless inning with one strikeout a rehab appearance for Single-A Lowell. He’s been on Pawtucket’s disabled list since May 30 with right elbow inflammation. The curiosity comes when realizing Taylor landed on the minor-league DL one day after getting optioned by the Red Sox.
“It’s kind of a little bit of a grey area,” Taylor said when asked if he felt something prior to rejoining the PawSox. “I don’t have much to say about it.”
Taylor started the year with the Red Sox before making a two-game cameo with the PawSox in late April. He appeared in 11 big-league games before getting shut down.
“At the start of the year, I thought maybe I would go back to Portland or start the year here,” Taylor. “Getting to be there at Fenway Park was unbelievable and I’m just trying to get back there.”
EXTRA BASES: Steve Selsky (ankle) was back in the PawSox lineup after missing the previous two days. He was the DH. … The PawSox will need to make moves in order to get Taylor and fellow reliever Austin Maddox on the roster. … Pawtucket will embark on a two-city, eight-game road trip that begins with four games in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and continues with four contests in Lehigh Valley.