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June 2, 2007
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Pawtucket Red Sox have played in an International League-high 11 extra-inning games this season.
As the saying goes, you win some, you lose some.
One night after posting a 1-0 victory in 12 innings, the PawSox this time lost 4-3 to the Norfolk Tides at Harbor Park in front of a crowd 9,642.
Pawtucket is now 5-6 in extra-inning games, 21-31 overall.
Tides catcher Alberto Castillo grounded a ball through the left side of the infield with two out in the 11th inning and the bases loaded to send the PawSox home on the short end.
Norfolk had loaded the bases on an infield single by Mike Cervenak, a walk to Jon Knott, and a walk to Terry Tiffee. Craig Breslow had come on in relief of Edgar Martinez to face Tiffee.
The PawSox looked as if they might get a run in the 10th inning when Ed Rogers led off with a double and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Bobby Scales. Chad Spann then hit a tailing line drive into the gap in right, but Norfolk’s Adam Stern ran it down and then threw out Rogers at the plate as he tried to tag up and score.
Stern also came up big for the Tides defensively in the ninth when he went high on the padded wall along the rightfield line to pull in a fly ball by Michael Tucker for the frame-ending out.
Early on, it looked as if the PawSox were going to break out on the calm night.
Pawtucket got on the board quickly as Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a single, Joe McEwing reached on a bunt single, the pair pulled off a double steak, and Ellsbury came home on a passed ball. Kevin Cash’s ground-rule double to left plated McEwing and the PawSox led 2-0.
That lead was erased in the bottom half of the inning. Tike Redman singled to center and one out later J.R. House singled up the middle. Mike Cervenak followed with a run-scoring single and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Jon Knott walked to load the bases and David Pauley uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning to allow the Tides’ second run.
By the fourth inning, the two teams had combined for more hits – 10 – than they’d tallied the previous night in that 12-inning affair.
Norfolk took a short-lived lead in the fifth when Brandon Fahey singled to left, stole second, and scored on a single up the middle by House.
Pawtucket evened matters in the top of the sixth as Scales doubled over the head of Stern, who was playing extremely shallow. Scales scored on Spann’s single up the middle, a ball that took a scoot hop under the glove of Tides shortstop Eider Torres who had seemed to have a bead on it.
Any and every rally by the PawSox was met with chants and cheers as the Boston Red Sox faithful living in the region let known their preferences, often drowning out pro-Tides cheering.
Pauley pitched seven innings before giving way to the bullpen. Pauley allowed six hits, walked two and struck out four. Mike Burns pitched a scoreless eighth, then Martinez came on to pitch the ninth.
Martinez had one of the weirder baseball moments in the 10th when Torres led off the Tides’ half of the inning by rapping a sharp one-hopper back to the mound. The ball stuck between the fingers of Martinez’s glove, leaving the pitcher no other option but to peel the glove off and throw it to first base for the out.
The PawSox will send Jon Lester, the comeback kid, to the mound for today’s 1:15 start as Lester continues his return following a battle with anaplastic large cell lymphoma which sidelined him in August of last season after he got off to a fabulous start with the Boston Red Sox.
Lester was 7-2 for the Red Sox and won his first five major league decisions. The 23-year-old Lester underwent therapy and treatment and was pronounced cancer-free in December. He’ll be making his sixth start this season for the PawSox and is 0-1 with a 1.25 ERA. In Lester’s previous outing he went five innings and left with a 4-0 lead, only to see the PawSox lose 5-4 to Columbus
--RICH RADFORD
Posted by Chris Venditto 
at 10:52 PM to PawSox
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