SOX ON DECK: Pawsox lose on 2-out, 2-strike bunt in bottom 9th

Want to know how to cool off the Pawtucket Red Sox?

Pull a play out of your left ear — which is exactly what Syracuse’s Danny Sandoval did Wednesday night as the Chiefs edged the International League’s best team, 6-5, at McCoy Stadium.

Eric Hull (1-3) retired the first two batters in the ninth inning of a 6-6 game but walked Wayne Lydon, who promptly stole second  — on a pitchout — and zipped to third on a throwing error by catcher Dusty Brown.

Hull got ahead of Sandoval, 1-and-2, but Sandoval dropped a perfect bunt down the third base line and easily beat it out for a hit that scored Lydon with the winning run.

“When you’ve got somebody that goes out and drops a two-strike, two-out bunt for an RBI single I tip my hat,” said manager Ron Johnson. “Sandoval’s a very good hitter. And you know what? That’s a heckuva play.”

Thanks to Sandoval’s play, the PawSox lost for only the fourth time in their last 21 games.

“When I was (managing) in A ball I used to talk about that a lot to Shane Halter, who was my shortstop.” said Johnson. “He could really bunt. I used to tell him ‘If you really look at it a two-out, two-strike bunt and you look at percentages and say I’m a .300 hitter which means you’re successful. Then if you break it down into percentage of solid contact … think about it that’s an actual time if you bunt the ball fair, what’s the other team going to do?’ ‘’

Sandoval’s play also wasted a solid relief effort by Miguel Asencio who worked four innings and limited Syracuse to one hit and one unearned run while issuing zero walks and fanning two.

Meanwhile, Edgar Martinez, who’s replaced the injured Kyle Snyder in Pawtucket’s rotation, stepped on the mound with a 2-0 record plus a 1.82 ERA in five starts. But Martinez couldn’t find home plate with a GPS since he walked three and continually pitched behind in counts.

Martinez lasted three innings plus two batters and was yanked with Syracuse leading 4-1.

The Chiefs scored three runs off Martinez in the second on three hits (including a two-run single by  Lydon) and two walks.

Eric Kratz led the Syracuse fourth by drilling a home run over the berm in left-center.

Johnson replaced Martinez with Asencio after Chip Cannon walked and Asencio retired the Chiefs in order.

“He was fine, physically,” Johnson said of Martinez. “This guy’s done such a great job for us in that spot-starting role and tonight he just didn’t have it. It wasn’t velocity or the quality of his pitches. But he was having trouble from the start repeating his pitches with command.

“You could see it. He showed me enough poise and stuff — throwing 94 — that I was like I’m going to send him back out in the fourth to see if he could get that feel. But at the same time, you’ve got a young starter in terms of experience. When he went back in the fourth and gave up the home run and walked Cannon and was out of the zone on all of his pitches, it was like we’re going to shut him down.”

Pawtucket trotted out the heavy lumber in the fourth and clubbed Bill Murphy for three runs which tied the game at 4-4.

Keith Ginter led with a single and easily scored on Brown’s triple.

Chad Spann, who was hitting a paltry .157 (8-51) in his last 14 games, smoked a two-run homer over the left-field berm for only his second dinger of the season.

The PawSox grabbed their first lead of the game in the fifth on singles by Bobby Kielty and Chris Carter and Brown’s sacrifice fly. But Syracuse tied it 5-5 in the sixth thanks to an rare error by shortstop Jed Lowrie.

Kevin Melillo was on second with two outs when Pedro Lopez hit a routine grounder to Lowrie. But Lowrie’s high throw to first pulled Spann off the bag and an alert Melillo scored all the way from second.

EXTRA BASES: A franchise-record five players will represent Pawtucket in the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 16 at Louisville …The quintet of International League All-Stars from Pawtucket includes right-hander Charlie Zink, second baseman Joe Thurston and outfielders Jeff Bailey, Chris Carter and Jonathan Van Every … Zink is having a career year with an 8-2 record plus a 2.63 ERA in 17 starts … Thurston currently leads the I.L. in batting (.324) and hits (100) … Bailey is tied for the league lead with 67 runs scored and is second in slugging percentage (.602) … Carter is fourth in the I.L. in hits (92) and is tied for fourth with 35 extra-base hits … Van Every in June  hit .313 with 12 home runs and 24 RBI … He’s also the top defensive outfielder - statistically - in the league with zero errors in 215 total chances.

Three members of the Portland Sea Dogs were voted to play in the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 16 at Manchester, outfielders Bubba Bell and Jeff Corsaletti plus right-hander Michael Bowden … Bell is hitting .300 with a team-leading 12 home runs and 41 RBI … Corsaletti is hitting .298 and ranks third in the league with 51 runs scored … Bowden is 7-4 with a 2.48 ERA and ranks second in the league with 89 strikeouts.

Lowrie was 0-for-5 which snapped his 11-game hitting streak … Bailey was 1-for-5 and remained mired in a slump during which he’s batting .125 (5-for-40).