Another tough loss for PawSox

Gwinnett walks off with 4-3 win in 10

L AW R E N C E V I L L E , Ga. — Georgia native Kyle Wren continued his successful homecoming by ripping an inside-the-park home run to tie the game in the eighth inning, but the Gwinnett Stripers walked off for the second day in a row to defeat the Pawtucket Red Sox, 4-3, in 10 innings Sunday afternoon at Coolray Field.

For the fourth time during their six-game losing streak, the PawSox fell in walk-off fashion. Dating back to Pawtucket’s own walk-off victory last Sunday at McCoy Stadium, five of its last eight games have been decided in walk-off fashion.

In Sunday’s road trip finale, the PawSox (45-53) tied the game 2-2 in the sixth and 3-3 in the eighth, but the Stripers (47-53) scored their automatic baserunner in the bottom of the 10th inning on an RBI single from Rio Ruiz, who began the day tied for second in the International League in hits. Pawtucket’s six-game losing skid is a season-long.

Wren — the son of Red Sox Senior Vice President/Player Personnel Frank Wren — drove a ball off the center-field wall that caromed back into deep center, sprinted around the bases and scored without a throw to tie the game and record Pawtucket’s first insidethe-park homer in nearly two years. In three games over the weekend, Wren went 4-for-9 with two doubles and five RBI.

Pawtucket second baseman Tony Renda (2-for-5) returned to the lineup after a day off and picked up right where he left off, logging another twohit performance. Mike Miller, went 2-for-3 himself with two RBI.

PawSox starter Justin Haley yielded three runs in 5.2 solid innings, while left-handers Bobby Poyner (1.1 IP, 0 H) and Williams Jerez (2.0 IP, 1 H) combined on 3.1 innings of dynamite relief work. Southpaw Josh D. Smith (L, 5-5) took the loss after the automatic baserunner scored in the bottom of the 10th (an unearned run).

Following the seven-game road trip and an off day on Monday, the PawSox now return home to McCoy Stadium to kick off a six-game homestand that begins against the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians) on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. British Open Par Scores