Kevin Thomas - In Portland, a Dogs-way afternoon; Mickey Hall hits a homer, Beau Vaughan stifles a late Reading rally, and the Dogs get a daytime win.

Two high picks from the 2003 major league draft continue to progress in the Red Sox organization while helping the Portland Sea Dogs remain a contender.

Outfielder Mickey Hall belted the winning home run, his fifth, and pitcher Beau Vaughan got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning, as Portland nudged the Reading Phillies 5-4 Monday afternoon at Hadlock Field.

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Hall homered into the pavilion in right field in the bottom of the inning.

It was needed insurance as Vaughan gave up a Jason Donald home run in the ninth -- the first earned run off Vaughan in 14 outings.

Kyle Jackson started the game and, except for a two-run blip in the second, put in one of his finest starts (six innings, six hits, one walk, seven strikeouts).

Portland rallied to tie it 2-2. Bubba Bell singled in a run in the fifth, and John Otness did the same in the sixth.

Daniel Bard pitched a perfect seventh, and Portland took the lead for good with two runs in the inning on Tony Granadillo's RBI double and an RBI single by Zach Daeges.



Kevin Thomas - Lester, Masterson, Buchholz

Masterson has a rubber arm (actually, Masterson has a rubber body. Maybe it's the Yoga he does, but the Sea Dogs trainers said he was the most flexible of any of the players) and can bounce back quickly after an appearance. Masterson has performed the role before in college and the Cape Cod League, and Masterson is especially good againt right-handers.

Left-handed hitters batted .236 against Masterson, but with 21 walks and six home runs ... Right-handers batted .170 (7 walks, 2 home runs).

Here's a question: When Masterson returns to Boston, which reliever goes?

Dan Goldberg - Doing it all; Laferney serves in several capacities for the JetHawks

LANCASTER - It's about 4 a.m. and John Laferney is finally leaving work. He'll be back in six hours and knows his rest won't be that restful.

"How good a sleep can it be when the sun is already coming out?" he asks.

Bleary-eyed, Laferney arrives at The Hangar at 11 a.m. on Sunday to begin preparations for the JetHawks' 2 p.m. game against the Stockton Ports.

His official title is Director of Stadium Operations, but Laferney, and those who he works around, know no one title could encompass his duties.

Drive fall to Delmarva

Greenville reliever Javier Garcia’s wild pitch allowed the winning run to score as the Drive’s bats struggled in a 2-1 loss to Delmarva in 10 innings on Monday night.

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Greenville (7-11) was held to three hits, and was held hitless from the third inning until the 11th. William Vazquez doubled in Oscar Tejada for the Drive’s lone run in the third.



Willie T. Smith III - Former Greenville Drive pitcher Buchholz nears return to Red Sox


“We like him a lot,” Red Sox vice president of player personnel Ben Cherington said. “When he got sent down, there were some specific things we wanted him to work on, some things we felt he needed to do to finish off his development. Specifically, being able to command his fastball a little bit better on both sides of the plate and drive it downhill in the zone.”

In eight games, Buchholz is 4-2 with a 2.47 ERA, with 43 strikeouts and 17 walks in 43 2/3 innings.

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Since being promoted from Greenville, Reddick has been the Lancaster JetHawks’ offensive leader. In 65 games, the left-handed slugger is hitting .346 with 15 home runs, 52 runs batted in, eight doubles and eight triples. He has 92 hits.

“He has a knack for putting the barrel on the ball,” Cherington said. “He has good bat speed, raw power. He is a little bit of an unorthodox hitter in that he can hit bad pitches hard. That is not necessarily something you teach. You wouldn’t recommend it to your kids, but he is able to do it and has a knack for doing it. It is really impressive.”

Reddick, rated Boston’s fifth-best minor league prospect by SoxProspects.com, has played both right field and center.

Owning possibly the strongest outfield arm in the organization, Cherington has been pleased with defensive ability.

Jamestown feasts on Lowell pitching

Jamestown (13-6) wasted no time grabbing the lead, scoring a run in the first inning off Spinners starter Dustin Richardson (0-1). The Jammers continued to pile on in the early innings, scoring a run in the second, three in the third and a run in the fourth. Staples accounted for four of the five runs scored, blasting a solo homer in the second and a three-run bomb in the third.

Kyle Carrier - NSU grad gets his licks in with Portland Sea Dogs

Portland, Maine, has been the 25-year-old's home since 2007, when he was called up from the Lancaster JetHawks, the Boston Red Sox Single-A affiliate. Bell, a starting outfielder for the Portland Sea Dogs, has found himself making headway with the Double-A organization since he was drafted out of Nicholls State by the Red Sox in the 39th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft.

He is currently batting .300 through 66 games this season. He has 80 hits with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs.

Slowly, Bell is becoming a top prospect and fan favorite for the Red Sox. He participated in the club's promotional "Future of Fenway" game, which allows minor league prospects to play at Boston's historic Fenway Park.

"That was exciting," Bell said. "It's a thing they do to kind of prepare guys and calm their nerves because we played in front of 25,000 people. It's a chance to calm down and learn, so it's a good thing."

During his two seasons in the minors, Bell has noticed an improvement in his game. In fact, he's improved every year since college, especially in his batting technique.