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Sox win wild one at Fenway, 10-3 »
July 20, 2007
PAWTUCKET – Pawtucket righty Devern Hansack earned his team-leading seventh win of the season last night and his sixth win in a row.
He has teammate Jeff Bailey to thank for that.
Bailey led an explosive PawSox offense that amassed 10 hits by going 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and four RBI to power Pawtucket to a 6-4 victory over Louisville.
“You get a guy like that hot, a production guy like him and [David] Murphy right now, they can kind of carry you,” Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson said.
Bailey and Murphy carried Pawtucket last night. Murphy was 2-for-4 with a solo home run.
Hansack pitched six innings, scattered five hits, allowed four runs, and struckout nine.
“He’s been pretty dirty all year just look at his ERA and strikeout totals,” Johnson said of Hansack, who is 7-6 with a 3.35 ERA. “What I like about Devern is the development of his changeup. His changeup is becoming a big time swing and miss pitch. His arm speed is right along the lines with his fastball…Devern Hansack is as consistent as you can get.”
Hansack only made two mistakes last night. Louisville hit a home run on both of them. One was a three-run shot by Joey Votto. The other was a solo home run by Chris Dickerson.
“Devern gave up a couple of home runs but that was just because he was being aggressive,” Bailey said. “That was fine because we still kept the lead.”
“He only made two mistakes and they did what you are supposed to do with mistakes,” Johnson said. “They smoked them…But they are good hitters though. Votto is a good hitter. He makes me nervous every time he comes to the plate. Dickerson has hit a couple of homers against us. He’s a big strong kid. But we got enough early to hold on.”
Despite Louisville’s two home runs, the Bats never led in the game. The PawSox jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on four two-out hits and never looked back.
After Bobby Scales (1-for-2, 2 runs scored, walk, hit by pitch) and Michael Tucker (2-for-4, double, run scored) both singled, Brandon Moss drove-in Scales with a single hit down the first-base line, putting runners on first and third base.
Bailey then sent a Richie Gardner offering into the bullpen in left field for a three-run home run. It was his second three-run home run in as many nights, and his 12th home run of the season.
“It was the pitcher’s mistake,” Bailey said. “I think he was trying to sink it but it didn’t sink much. I got it. It’s nice to get that kind of lead early in the game.”
David Murphy led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run for Pawtucket to give the PawSox a 5-0 cushion.
After Scales walked, he sprinted to third base on a Tucker double. Bailey drove-in Scales with an RBI single to center field to make it 6-0.
Votto cut Pawtucket’s lead in half with a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning.
After Hansack struckout the side in the fifth, Dickerson hit a sixth-inning lead-off home run and Pawtucket’s lead fell to 6-4. But Hansack did not allow another hit after that.
Louisville had a chance to win the game in the top of the ninth inning when former Boston star Mark Bellhorn (2004, 2005) came up to bat with two outs and a runner on first and second base, but Pawtucket closer Travis Hughes struck him out to earn the save.
----ROB LEE
Posted by Thom Cahir 
at 10:34 PM to PawSox
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