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PawSox improve to 2-0

FORT MILL, S.C. -- The long ball was the Pawtucket Red Sox’ most effective offensive weapon for the second straight night against the Charlotte Knights.

But in Knights Stadium, you’ve also got to have some pitching to win.

Ed Rogers, Joe McEwing and Kevin Cash each homered for the PawSox in a 5-1 victory in front of 2,757 fans at Knights Stadium on Friday. And Pawtucket pitchers struck out 15 Charlotte batters, led by starting pitcher Evan Hansack’s 10 strikeout in 5-2/3 innings.

"I’ve been coming to this ballpark for a couple of years now, and it can be hard to defend a 4-1 lead here," PawSox manager Ron Johnson said. "We were throwing quality stuff at people all night after we got on the scoreboard early. I’m real pleased with the last couple of nights."

The PawSox (2-0) rocked Charlotte knuckleballer Charlie Haeger for a pair of homers in the first two innings on the way to a 3-0 lead.

Rogers smacked a 3-1 knuckler from Haeger over the left field fence to lead off the game. And McEwing cleared the left field fence with a towering two-out, two-run drive after Brandon Moss doubled off the wall in right center.

Moss, whose first-inning grand slam was the big hit in Thursday’s 7-4 season-opening win, was one of three Pawtucket players with two hits each.

The PawSox added another run in the fourth. Alex Ochoa and Moss led off the inning with back-to-back singles. McEwing hit into a fielder’s choice to send Ochoa to third. The run scored on a two-out wild pitch by Haeger.

Meanwhile, Hansack frustrated the Knights for most of his outing. Charlotte scored its only run on Luis Terrero’s solo home run to deep center in the fifth. He left the game in the sixth after reaching his 75-pitch limit.

"He didn’t want to come out," Johnson said. "His stuff was good tonight. His fastball had a lot of action and I thought he got stronger after we got him a lead."

The Knights brought the tying run to the plate in that sixth innning, after Pedro Lopez lashed a leadoff double off Hansack and went to third on a wild pitch. Ryan Sweeney walked with two outs, but relief pitcher Craig Breslow got Ernie Young to pop up to first to end the innning.

Breslow and closer Craig Hansen combined for 3 1/3 innings of one hit relief and struck out five batters between them. Hansen pitched the eighth and ninth to earn his first save.

Pawtucket put a pair of runners on base in the eighth when Ochoa and Moss stroked back-to-back singles with one out off Knights reliever Paulino Reynoso. Both moved into scoring position on a two-out wild pitch, but Ryan Bukvich came in to strike out Chad Spann to end the inning.

Cash hit a solo homer to right center field off Bukvich with one out in the ninth.

--KEITH CANNON (Special to the Journal)

Posted by Corey Bourassa  at 10:31 PM | Permalink