Bowden Shuts Down Charlotte; Curve Beat Sea Dogs; Salem Sweeps

Michael Bowden bounced back from a rough outing five days ago with an outstanding effort tonight in the Pawtucket Red Sox's 4-0 win over the Charlotte Knights (CWS) in North Carolina.

The 22-year-old right-hander threw 5.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing just three hits while walking three and striking out four. Relievers Rocky Cherry (1.1 IP, 3 H), Javier Lopez (1.2 IP, 1 H) and Jose Vaquedano (.1 IP) combined to complete the shutout.

Bowden improved to 4-5 (3.23) with his victory.

The game was scoreless until the PawSox put together three consecutive singles with one out in the fifth inning against former major league pitcher Freddy Garcia. 2B Ivan Ochoa singled home 3B Angel Chavez with the run.

LF Chris Duncan belted a solo home run (his second with the PawSox) to extend the lead in the sixth. SS Gil Velazquez added a solo homer (3) in the seventh inning. C Dusty Brown finished off the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth inning.

The teams will face off again at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. Former UNC star Adam Mills will make his 2009 PawSox debut…Wes Whisler (7-10, 4.07) will toe the rubber for the Knights. The game will be broadcast on WHJJ-Providence (920 AM)…scroll down, find the link for the PawSox, and click.

The Altoona Curve (PIT) parlayed a six-run fourth inning into a 10-3 win over the Portland Sea Dogs in the series opener in Pennsylvania.

Sea Dogs starter Ryne Lawson had allowed only five runs in his last four outings, covering a total of 23 IP; but tonight he lasted just over three innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits as he suffered his 10th loss of the season.

Altoona righty Mike Crotta beat Portland for the second time in less than a week, allowing two unearned runs on six hits over 5.2 innings.

Crotta and the Curve snapped Portland’s five-game winning streak.

The Curve offense was led by CF Gorkys Hernandez (3-for-6, RBI, 3 RS) and 3B Pedro Alvarez (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2B, BB). Portland C Luis Exposito had three of Portland’s eight hits.

Altoona jumped out to a 10-0 lead after five innings… Portland scored three runs late in the contest but the game was never in doubt.

The Curve scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning as Hernandez singled, moved to third base on a base hit by Alvarez, and scored on a sac fly by 1B Miles Durham.

They used the exact same formula to score again in the third inning, although this time the singles were by 2B Shelby Ford and Alvarez…Durham again drove in the run.

The home team blew the game open in the fourth inning. The first five batters reached base, with Hernandez (RBI) and Ford (two RBI) driving in runs. After a walk to Alvarez, manager Arnie Beyeler called on reliever Chad Rhoades to quell the rally, but the right-hander allowed all three inherited runners to score on a ground out, a wild pitch and a sac fly.

The Curve finish its end of the scoring in the fifth inning on a two-run double by Alvarez.

Portland finally dented home plate in the sixth inning, with an invaluable assist from two fielding errors by the Curve defense. After 1B Jon Still and RF Daniel Nava reached on errors, C Luis Exposito singled to load the bases. DH Juan Apodaca singled in the Dogs’ first run. SS Yamaico Navarro drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly.

The Sea Dogs added their third run of the game in the eighth inning, as Still doubled and Exposito drove an RBI single into left field.

RHP Richie Lentz, LHP Andrew Dobies and RHP Bryce Cox each tossed a scoreless inning of relief, but the hole was dug too deep.

The teams play the middle game of their series tomorrow beginning at 7:05 p.m. RHP Blake Maxwell will start for Portland…LHP Kyle Bloom will start the game for Altoona. The game will be broadcast on WBAE (1490 AM)…scroll down, find the link for the Sea Dogs, and click .

In South Carolina, the Salem Red Sox notched a couple of much-needed victories tonight in sweeping the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (ATL), 3-2 and 10-1.

Game One was delayed an hour by rain. Once it got underway, the Sox used a couple of home runs to prevail in the tight affair. OF Chih-Hsien Chiang’s two run homer (5) in the second inning put Salem up 2-0.

Pels LF Cody Johnson belted his league-leading 27th home run in the bottom of the inning to pull Myrtle Beach within a run, but DH Tim Federowicz answered with a solo shot of his own to re-gain a two-run lead. The Pelicans scored once more but couldn’t pull even as Salem hung on for a 3-2 win.

Sox starting pitcher Seth Garrison allowed two runs in four innings in his outing. Reliever Armando Zerpa earned his first Carolina League win with three scoreless innings.

In Game Two, Federowicz’s RBI single made it 1-0 after a half-inning of play. Myrtle Beach loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning, but Sox pitcher Jose Capellan got a pop-up and a 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam.

Thereafter, the night belonged to the Sox, who took advantage of two errors in the third inning to score three times in extending the lead to 4-0. They then sent nine men to the plate and scored four times in the fifth inning to break the game open…the big blast was a three-run double by 2B Luis Segovia.

In the sixth, Segovia drove in another run to complete his season-best four-RBI performance.

Capellan allowed one run in 3.2 innings…reliever Josh Papelbon retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced over 3.1 scoreless frames to earn his fourth win of the year.

Despite having lost 13 of their last 14 games, the pair of wins moves the Red Sox to one-and-a-half games ahead of Myrtle Beach in the Southern Division standings and inches the Sox within two games of first place.

Salem and Myrtle Beach will play Game Three on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Kyle Weiland is expected to start for the Sox against Brandon Beachy for the Pelicans. The game will be broadcast on WFIR (960 AM)…scroll down, find the link for the Salem Red Sox, then click.