The Providence Journal

Pat Janssen - PawSox split doubleheader in Richmond

Charlie Zink threw everything but the kitchen sink. The Pawtucket knuckleballer tossed a complete game, limiting the Braves to five hits and one unearned run. Zink, who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002, outdueled Brian Lawrence, improving to 10-2 with the effort. Zink walked only one batter. Of his 81 pitches, 66 were for strikes.

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Perhaps the most productive ninth batter in the International League, Jonathan Van Every provided another display of power. In the opener, Van Every blasted a two-run home run well beyond the left-field wall to temporarily tie the score in the seventh inning. Van Every thought he had his 14th home run of the year in his previous at-bat, when he launched a towering shot to right field that got caught in a stiff wind and bounced off the wall. Van Every slowly trotted out of the batters’ box expecting to see the ball sail into the parking lot. He settled for a double.

Umm, Zink appears to be downright filthy lately.

You just have to wonder if there's a way to work two knucklers into a pitching staff, because if Zink doesn;t get the call up soon, I hope they can at least use him as a chip, but i wonder how is value is perceived throughout the league. I noticed he's not even ranked on "SoxProspects" Unless I'm missing something.

Kevin Thomas - Sea Dogs run out of rallies; Portland finally gets a lead in the seventh, but New Hampshire recovers with two homers for a victory.

The Sea Dogs took their first lead when Aaron Bates swatted a three-run home run to center field in the seventh inning for a 6-5 advantage.

Bates was a triple short of hitting for the cycle, going 3 for 4. Bates, whose batting average dropped 27 points in the last month to .277, showed signs of breaking out of the slump. The home run was his sixth of the season.

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Portland starter Adam Mills made his Hadlock debut and his second Double-A start since his promotion from Class A Lancaster.

Mills, 23, an eighth-round selection in the 2007 draft out of North Carolina-Charlotte, is known for his control.

He pounded the strike zone Tuesday, but the Fisher Cats pounded back for nine hits and five runs over five innings.

"It was maybe the case of being around the plate too much," Beyeler said. "They got a lot of two-strike hits. He just didn't finish the hitters.



Kevin Thomas - Pinckney making himself at home

Pinckney returned to Hadlock Field for the first time Tuesday. He received a polite round of applause when he led off the second inning before grounding out to first. He went 1 for 4 with a double.

“It’s not as weird as I thought it would be,” Pinckney said of his return. “But I miss seeing the guys I played with.”Pinckney said the transition has been seamless.

“This is a great group of guys,” he said. “Gary (Cathcart), the manager, is great … and we played them so much last year, I felt like that was our second home.

“I couldn’t be happier. I’m glad I’m at a place where I’m wanted.”



Kevin Thomas - Could Ortiz be coming to Portland?


Portland lost despite a 3-for-4 performance from Aaron Bates (a triple short of the cycle).

In Portland tonight, Michael Bowden makes another start. His innings will probably be limited to 5 ... and, of course, the speculation builds with every start that he is making his last appearance at Hadlock.

Lancaster won on the road and first baseman Lars Anderson (.319) keeps showing that he may be in Portland by August. He went 2-for-4 with his 12th home run ... Second baseman Chih-Hsien Chang (.294) went 2-for-4 with his 7th home run. Chang, 20, is quietly moving through the system in his third season ... Reliever Bryce Cox (3.47) pitched two scoreless innings (1 K).

In the Gulf Coast League, 18-year-old outfielder Bryan Peterson keeps hitting and went 3-for-4 ... third baseman Michael Almanzar doubled in the first inning and then left for unknown reasons. He was not initially on the Red Sox daily injury report.

Drive win

DELMARVA, Md. -- Ryne Lawson pitched five scoreless innings as the Greenville Drive beat Delmarva 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Lawson (4-2) allowed three hits, striking out three and walking none. Kyle Fernandes allowed one run in three innings of relief before giving way to Javier Garcia, who earned his first save of the season by striking out the side in the ninth.

Oscar Tejeda and Juan Apodaca had two hits apiece for the Drive (8-11 South Atlantic League, second half).




Willie T. Smith III - Ex-Drive pitcher Bowden still climbing ladder; Outfielder Bell also succeeding at AA Portland

This season with Class AA Portland, Bowden entered Tuesday's games with an 8-4 record and a 2.36 earned run average. In 991/3 innings, he struck out 93 batters while allowing 67 hits and 22 walks.

"His secondary stuff has improved this year," Cherington said. "He is another guy we certainly expect to be pitching in the big leagues at some point in the not too distant future."


Outfielder Bubba Bell is another member of the 2006 Drive team succeeding in Portland.

In 71 games, the center fielder is hitting .290 with 13 home runs, 14 doubles, three triples and 47 runs batted in. That follows his 2007 season in high Class A Lancaster in the California League, where he batted .370 with 22 homers and 83 RBI.

"Sometimes when guys are in Lancaster, you can put up big numbers and sometimes people start to dismiss the numbers a little bit because of the type of park it is and the hitting environment," Cherington said. "We knew AA would be a better test for him. He has certainly met the challenge. He is just a good hitter. "

Cherington said he is also pleased with Bell's defensive abilities.

I'm not sure if we're supposed to post in here but I'm going to anyway, feel free to delete.

Zink isn't ranked in SoxProspects b/c of his age. He's too old (28) to be considered a prospect. They do talk about him over there occasionally.

You can find him in "post-prospects" BTW.

Dan Hickling - Fishers bash way to win


No lead was safe, certainly not for the Fisher Cats, who relinquished two of them in the first three innings, then lost another in the seventh when reliever Orlando Roman served up a three-run homer to Portland first baseman Aaron Bates.

New Hampshire had snapped a 3-3 tie in the fourth when they scored twice off Sea Dogs starter Adam Mills.

Andrew Pinckney got them started in that frame by lashing a one-out double, then trotting home on Chris Gutierrez's triple, making it 4-3.

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There is some speculation that Bowden's appearance might be his last one in Double-A, especially now that with the imminent recall of Clay Buchholz by Boston from Triple-A Pawtucket, coupled with the move of Justin Masterson to the bullpen, there is now room in the PawSox rotation for Bowden. . . .

Tony Bajoczky Strong Again as JetHawks Top Storm 5-1

Tony Bajoczky gave Lancaster another strong performance, limiting the Storm to just one run with the help of two relievers as the JetHawks defeated the Storm 5-1. The win gives Lancaster three straight and gets their season record back to .500 at 44-44.

A couple of long home runs gave Lancaster all they needed early as Lars Anderson hit his 12th home run and Chih-Hsien Chiang hit his 7th. After that the JetHawks pitching dominated. Shaking off a touch-and-go first inning, Bajoczky settled in to retire 12 consecutive Storm batters. He allowed just one run in six innings to earn his fourth win (4-3).

Patirck Kinmartin - Outlaws Notebook: Nava producing for Red Sox affiliate

Through Monday, Nava's average for the Lancaster Jet Hawks, the Boston Red Sox's Single-A affiliate, was at .345. That would have qualified as the league's fourth-best mark if Nava had the minimum 237 plate appearances needed to qualify for the leaderboard.

The 25-year-old who won the Golden Baseball League's batting title and Most Valuable Player award for the Outlaws in 2007 went into Tuesday's Jet Hawks contest against the Lake Elsinore Storm with 68 hits in 197 at-bats after appearing in 55 of Lancaster's 74 games. Nava hasn't been an everyday starter, but is in the middle of a stretch of making over five straight appearances for just the second time this year as he continues to establish himself in the team's main mix.

Seth Soffian - Sox prospect makes big leap; Pitcher, 17, comes from Holland with major league hopes



"In Holland they call me the big swan," said 17-year-old Swen Huijer, a pitching prospect with the Red Sox of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League.

Alternately listed at 6-foot-8 or 6-9 and 205 pounds, the right-hander was signed to a seven-year deal by the Red Sox in April after scouts saw him pitch for the Netherlands in a tournament in Italy in February.

Huijer bypassed an offer from the Yankees to go to the instructional league in the Dominican Republic and had three tryouts with the Mets, who he said offered him a contract after he signed with the Red Sox.

"It's great to be here," said Huijer, the product of one of Europe's better baseball nations but still a country where the sport is "pretty low" on the national sports consciousness, he said.

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"He's doing fine for a kid that is coming from a foreign country," said GCL Red Sox manager Dave Tomlin. "His English is very good. His work habits are outstanding. He's very intelligent. He's going to put on some weight, and with that weight is going to come some velocity."

Huijer has already increased his velocity in his two months here, Tomlin said, with his fastball topping out at 87 or 88 miles an hour. His best in rainy conditions against the Twins last week was in the low 80s, although he threw first-pitch strikes to all five batters he faced.

"It's more important to throw strikes than your velocity," Huijer said.