(Photo/MiLB.com)
PAWTUCKET, R.I. – Being the underdog isn’t always so bad, just ask the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Boston’s top farm club, which won the International League’s Wild Card title, took a commanding 2-0 series lead on the Syracuse Chiefs in the Governor’s Cup Playoffs and hits the road to Syracuse, N.Y. in prime position to move forward for a third consecutive year.
Edwin Escobar dealt 8.2 scoreless innings in a 2-1 victory to open the series before it was Matt Barnes’ turn to steal the show in an 8-2 win at McCoy Stadium on Thursday night. The former UConn standout allowed just three hits in seven innings of work for the home team.
“He was terrific tonight,” PawSox manager Kevin Boles said of Barnes. “He had an explosive fastball and it looked like we saw a tick up in velocity once he got ahead. But he had a feel for a mix and was just impressive.”
Barnes started the game off with a 1-2-3 first inning and the PawSox went right to work with three runs on four hits in their first turn at-bat. First baseman Travis Shaw and third baseman Garin Cecchini delivered the big RBI hits in the inning off Syracuse starter Scott McGregor.
While the pitching staff in general has been a strong suit, Barnes has been an obvious workhorse by eclipsing the 100-pitch mark and at least five inning in his last six starts during the regular season. Boles commented that it may have been his best to date.
“I felt pretty good,” Barnes said. “It’s awesome (to come in with an immediate lead). Last night, we only put up one run through nine, and to jump out to an early three-run lead was huge. It was a big swing of momentum for the team and it really helped us.”
McGregor settled in but still scattered seven hits, and the PawSox doubled their lead with extended damage on three more knocks in the sixth.
Pawtucket sent eight hitters to the plate in the frame with designated hitter Ryan Roberts bringing in two of the three runs on a double off the base of the left-center field wall.
Cecchini was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI in the contest, picking up right where he left off in August in which he led the team with 22 RBI. He and Roberts combined for seven of Pawtucket’s 12 hits, while shortstop Deven Marrero and center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. also posted two hits apiece.
“We had a lot of quality at bats, and if we made an out it was a tough out,” Boles commented of his offense which sparked after a quieter night in victory to open the series.
“(Cecchini) has turned a corner. He had a couple bad months, but now he’s back to the old ‘Cheech’ that we know. … He’s using the whole field and impacting the baseball. He’s really tracking the ball well.”
Cecchini, a 2011 Lowell Spinner All-Star, capped off the perfect night at the plate in the seventh inning, lining a three-bagger off the wall in straightaway center field. He came in from third with ease on a Roberts single, his third hit of the night, which took a bad hop over third base.
PawSox pitchers John Ely and Miguel Celestino made things interesting in the top of the eighth as eight Syracuse batters came to the plate and two scored after the bases were loaded on a trio of walks.
Pawtucket will turn to ace Henry Owens on Friday night in the third game of the series. If the PawSox emerge victorious to sweep the series, the best-of-five final round begins Tuesday night at McCoy against either Durham or Columbus.
Another former Spinner made news with the Triple-A club as 2012 pitcher Keith Couch received a promotion on Wednesday and is slated to follow Owens in the Pawtucket rotation. The Adelphi University (N.Y.) product was excellent with the Portland Sea Dogs, going 8-2 with a 2.96 ERA over 18 appearances.