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Game Story: Royals thump Sox, 9-3 »
July 17, 2007
Pawtucket looked like it was going to match its season high four-game winning streak early on last night in its game against Ottawa.
The PawSox were up 4-0 after three innings and starter David Pauley was cruising right along in those innings. But Ottawa figured Pauley out in the fourth inning and rallied to win, 6-5, to halt Pawtucket's three-game winning streak.
“I thought he pitched pretty good,” Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson said of Pauley. “They got pretty aggressive on first pitch fastballs the second and third time up through the batting order and you know what I'm not going to take anything away from them. They squared some balls up to get back in this thing.”
With the score tied, 5-5, Pawtucket brought in former catcher turned pitcher, Edgar Martinez, to start the sixth inning. Jason Jaramillo, the first batter he faced, hit a solo home run off of him to give Ottawa a 6-5 lead. It turned out to be the game-winning hit.
"The first slider he through Jaramillo hit it in the right-center field bleachers and that was it,” Johnson said.
Pawtucket jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Brandon Moss ignited the PawSox bats with a leadoff single. He sprinted to third base on a Bobby Scales single, and George Kottaras drove him in with a double he hit down the first base line.
Scales scored from third base on an Ed Rogers ground out to the shortstop, and Alex Prieto drove-in Kottaras with a double he crushed to left-center. Jacoby Ellsbury drove him in with a triple he hit to center field but the PawSox left him stranded on third. Joe McEwing looked like he was going to score Ellsbury when he blasted a line drive towards left field, but Ottawa shortstop Danny Sandoval made a terrific diving catch to save the run.
“That turned out to be a really big run,” Johnson said.
Ottawa caught up to Pauley in the fourth inning when it cut Pawtucket's lead to 4-2. Pauley walked Gary Burnham and then Brennan King put runners on second and third base with a double.
Jim Rushford plated both runners with a single to left field. Chris Roberson led-off the fifth inning with a solo home run he sent over the fence in right field to slash Pawtucket's lead to 4-3.
Pauley hit Burnham with a pitch with two outs and that came back to bite him. King singled and Burnham scored from second base on a close play at the plate on Jim Rushford's single to center field. Ellsbury's throw was just a split-second too late and the crowd booed in unison when home plate umpire Dusty Dellinger called Burnham safe when he slid under Kottaras' tag to tie the score, 4-4.
David Murphy quickly put Pawtucket back on top, 5-4, by leading off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run.
“The pitch was up and away and I just tried to put a good swing on it,” Murphy said. “The ball was flying well here tonight. It was one of those nights where it feels good to help out in any way possible…I think offensively it was a great game for both teams. They came out on top but I feel like we played a great game.”
Pedro Swann answered for Ottawa with a solo home run he hit over the fence in right field in the top of the sixth inning to even the score.
“We came out early but they finished up late and they got one more run than we did,” Johnson said. “It was like we won the first three innings and after that they won the middle frames and then both of us just kind of stayed dormant the last couple [of innings]…I still like the way we are playing right now. I like what's going on.”
--ROB LEE
Posted by Corey Bourassa 
at 10:28 PM to PawSox
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