PawSox sweep doubleheader
Callahan, Walden, Olmes impress in home wins
Pawtucket reaches .500 mark after cruising past struggling Syracuse twice at McCoy Stadium
For the PawSox, Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep of last-place Syracuse ran the gamut of pitching possibilities.
There was the good (Jamie Callahan, Marcus Walden, Edgar Olmes), the shaky (Henry Owens, Kyle Martin), and the intriguing (Hector Velazquez). In the end, Pawtucket took two from Syracuse by scores of 6-1 (Game 1) and 3-0 (Game 2) before a heavy school kid crowd of 8,384.
The biggest news of the day was PawSox manager Kevin Boles taking out Velazquez after the right-hander tossed a scoreless first inning in the second game. The move was done to keep Velazquez available in the event Brian Johnson suffered a setback before Friday’s start for Boston against Detroit.
“It’s about protecting the inventory and making sure the big-league team has options,” Boles said.
Is there benefit to trotting out a starting pitcher (Velazquez) who needed just seven pitches to retire the Chiefs in order? In the eyes of Boles, absolutely.
“He goes through his normal pregame routine,” Boles said. “It’s better to do that as opposed to sitting and not getting ready for a game, but that’s the plan That’s what we were told to do.”
The Red Sox chose to deputize Velazquez as insurance after Johnson was forced to exit his most recent start for the PawSox after slipping on the mound and suffering discomfort in his right hamstring. Wednesday was another encouraging step with Boles noting that Johnson reported to McCoy felt fine one day after throwing a bullpen session. Johnson is tentatively scheduled to throw another bullpen on Thursday.
Like Johnson and Velazquez, Owens is listed on Boston’s 40-man roster. Based on recent events, it’s clear that Owens is a distant third on the depth chart. Coming off an outing where he failed to get out of the first inning after surrendering six runs on six hits, Owens saw his pitch count sit at 103 pitches after recording 13 outs against a Syracuse team that came into Wednesday hitting .241 on the season.
Featuring a noticeably higher leg kick, Owens was denied the chance at the win after walking three and hitting two batters. He didn’t allow a hit in his first four innings as the PawSox jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first game.
“He’s been searching a little bit lately and trying to find himself and be both athletic and repeat his delivery consistently,” Boles said. “He ran into some problems with the pitch count, but he’s going to continue to work and keep this process going.”
Owens now has a 3.88 ERA on the season. He’s also issued 40 walks to go along with 62 strikeouts in 53.1 innings.
“I’m sure he was frustrated as far as not being more efficient (against Syracuse),” Boles said.
A lefty from California, Olmes logged a season-high five innings his 14th appearance of the season. He followed Velazquez to the bump in Game 2. Boles said that Olmes was aware that he would be coming on for the second inning. Olmes hit the first Chiefs batter he faced and walked two in the third before retiring the final 11.
Olmes was lifted after throwing 50 pitches, 30 for strikes. The outing was reminiscent of the length and efficiency that another left-handed reliever (Robby Scott) provided the PawSox on numerous occasions last season – sometimes doing so with very little in the way of notice.
“Terrific. The command was a little bit off to start, but he righted the ship a little bit, and he got in there and started using that mix,” Boles said. “I thought he spun a pretty good breaking ball today. Showed better command. He was beating hitters consistently today.”
The PawSox took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Game 2 with Martin tasked with finishing with Velazquez and Olmes started. Former PawSox and Red Sox infielder Brandon Snyder broke up the no-no with a line drive up the middle that alluded PawSox shortstop Ryan Court. Martin loaded the bases but worked out of trouble to secure the save and the sweep of the doubleheader and the three-game series against the Chiefs (17-37).
“We just want to see cleaner innings out of Kyle,” Boles said. “He was able to get through it, but we’re trying to make evaluations as far as, ‘Does it play up at the major-league level?’”
There was no high-wire act in the final inning of Game 1 as Callahan tossed a scoreless inning with one strikeout. He’s now struck out 10 in 9.2 innings since getting promoted from Portland on May 11.
EXTRA BASES: The PawSox have won eight straight games at home for the first time since 1998. Pawtucket, which begins a fourgame home series against Buffalo Thursday, improved to 27-27 on the season and has enjoyed the sweet success of victory in 11 of the past 14 games. … Walden earned the win on the mound in the first game. He followed Owens and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings with one walk and one strikeout. … Brian Bogusevic connected for a two-run home run in the first game while Allen Craig went 2for-2 with a pair of doubles. … In the second inning of the second game, the PawSox loaded the bases with three consecutive singles. Catcher Dan Butler then drew a walk to score Bogusevic and give Pawtucket a 1-0 lead. Second baseman Heiker Meneses then sent a single up the middle to make it 2-0 and record his first RBI with Pawtucket this season. Castillo made it 3-0 when he bounced sharply into a 5-4-3 double play, scoring first baseman Jantzen Witte from third. … Thursday’s 7:05 p.m. start against the Bisons will feature Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola throwing out the first pitch and signing free autographs in the PawSox Fan Center from 7:308:30 p.m.