AUGUST 27Th PAWTUCKET (63-68) at BUFFALO (61-68) 7:05 Pm
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AUGUST 27th PAWTUCKET (63-68) at BUFFALO (61-68) 7:05 pm Pawtucket Red Sox RHP William Cuevas (9-7, 3.44) vs. Buffalo Bisons RHP Zach Stewart (2-0, 4.26) One Week to Go - The Pawtucket Red Sox begin the final full week of the season (the regular-season ends next Monday afternoon at McCoy Stadium) when they play the finale of this 4-game series in Buffalo - and their 8-game roadtrip - tonight at 7:05 pm at Coca- Cola Field in downtown Buffalo. The PawSox – winners of 11 of their last 18 games – have won the last two games of this wrap- round weekend series against the Bisons (AAA-Toronto) by 8-5 and 8-3 scores over the weekend after dropping the opener on Friday, 13-4. The Sox have split each of their last two series – both 4-game sets vs. Durham from August 16-19 and at Rochester from August 21-23. They have a chance tonight to capture this series outright with a victory over the Bisons. The PawSox are 15-20-6 in their 41 series this season (15 wins, 20 losses, and 6 splits) pending tonight. Three’s Company - This series has proven to be a battle for 3rd-place in the IL North as the clubs came into play on Friday in a virtual tie for the third spot in the division. Buffalo took over sole possession of 3rd with their victory on Friday but the PawSox have bounced back over the Bisons with their two wins over the weekend. With a victory tonight the Sox would own a 2-game cushion with 7 games to go. A Buffalo win would pull the Bisons to within a pct. point of the PawSox. As of now, the Sox will play 139 games this season (one game cancelled back in April) while Buffalo is slated for 138 games (they have had two games cancelled due to weather issues in April). Red Sox Rehabbers on the Horizon – Three key members of the Boston Red Sox, all currently on the Red Sox disabled list, are expected to begin injury rehab assignments with the PawSox this week. Pitcher Steven Wright, who has been on the DL since June 23 with left knee inflammation (related to his knee surgery a year ago May), is slated to start in Pawtucket tomorrow (Tuesday) when the PawSox host Lehigh Valley at 7:05 pm at McCoy Stadium. Wright is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 games (4 starts) for Boston this season (from May 15 – June 22) and is 0-0 with a 4.30 ERA in 4 games (2 starts) during a rehab assignment with the PawSox from April 20 – May 11. Wright is expected to throw tomorrow to rehabbing Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez who has been on the Sox DL since July 8 with a fractured right pinky finger suffered on a head-first slide while stealing 2nd base on July 7 in Kansas City. Vazquez, who is scheduled to catch in Portland tonight (with Red Sox rehabbing LHP Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound), was hitting .213 in 60 games (59 as catcher) for Boston with 3 HR & 14 RBI. He was coming off a fine June, however, when he batted .298 during the month. On Wednesday the Red Sox are expected to send 3B Rafael Devers to Pawtucket to play at McCoy on Wednesday & Thursday nights vs. the IronPigs and then possibly continue with the club on Friday evening at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Devers has had three stints on Boston’s disabled list this season with this most recent coming on August 16 when he was placed on the DL with a recurring left hamstring strain. Rafael has also been on the DL from July 11-21 with left shoulder inflammation and from July 29 – August 8 with the left hamstring strain. In 102 games for the Red Sox this season (100 at 3rd base) he is batting .242 with 22 doubles, 16 HR & 55 RBI. He also rehabbed for one game with (short-A) Lowell on August 6 and went 1-for-4 with a 2-run HR in that game and then rejoined the Red Sox on August 8 for six games before going back on the DL. Close Encounters - Pawtucket leads Buffalo in the season-series by a 10 games to 9 margin with the finale on tap for tonight. The Bisons have out-scored the Sox, 86-85 in the tight season-series. NEXT ON TAP - The probable pitching match-ups for the upcoming series vs. Lehigh Valley at McCoy: Tues. 7:05 pm LHP Ranger Suarez (2-0, 2.92) vs. RHP Steven Wright (0-0, 4.30)/RHP Josh A. Smith (5-5, 4.06) Wed. 7:05 pm RHP Enyel De Los Santos (10-4, 2.43) vs. RHP Mike Shawaryn (2-1, 4.32) Thur. 7:05 pm RHP Tom Eshelman (2-13, 5.83) vs. RHP Justin Haley (6-8, 3.89) The Road Home – After splitting their 4-game series in Rochester last week, Pawtucket has now won 2 of 3 here in Buffalo so they are 4-3 on this 8-game trip. The PawSox will be back at McCoy tomorrow (Tuesday) night to begin a 3-game series and homestand vs. the IL North division champion Lehigh Valley IronPigs who clinched their first IL North title with a win over Scranton/WB this weekend in Allentown. The PawSox and IronPigs will play Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights (all at 7:05 pm) at McCoy. Homestands Dwindling – The PawSox have just that 3-game homestand (Tuesday - Thursday vs. Lehigh Valley) and a 2-game homestand to end the regular-season this coming Sunday, September 2 (6:15 pm) and Monday, September 3 (1:35 pm) vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre remaining at McCoy this season. Pitching in for Offense – Back in early-August, Pawtucket took over the International League lead in Team Pitching when they surpassed Rochester. The PawSox had remained on top of the league until the last weekend in August when the Red Wings moved back ahead. The PawSox are currently 2nd with their 3.47 ERA behind Rochester at 3.42. Pawtucket has also gone on a big upswing this month offensively and they are now all the way up to 7th in the IL with their Team Batting average of .252 (a season-high). Battling for a Batting Title – PawSox outfielder Rusney Castillo has pulled away a bit in the International League batting race as he looks to become the first Pawtucket player to win the IL Batting Title in 37 years…since Wade Boggs hit .335 in 1981. Rusney, who is hitting .322 on the season, now has a 12 point lead in the race over Joey Meneses of Lehigh Valley who is at .310. Castillo (148) also leads the league in Hits over Meneses (142). Rusney is bidding to join some select company and become the 6th player to win the IL Batting Championship following…Juan Beniquez (.298 in 1973), Jim Rice (.337 in 1974), Wayne Harer (.350 in 1977 – the highest batting average in PawSox history), Garry Hancock (.325 in 1979), and Boggs (.335 in 1981). August Moon – Pawtucket has posted some fine numbers in August with five games to go in the month. The Sox are batting .292 in the first 24 games this month (246-for-842) with 17 HR & 113 runs scored. The PawSox hit .233 in April, .227 in May, .258 in June, and .251 in July. Sox pitchers in August are 15-9 with a 3.14 ERA (73 ER in 209.1 IP). Night Owls – The PawSox are 5-games under .500 this year but they are over .500 at night posting a 48-47 record in night games this season compared to 15-21 in day games. The Sox have just one day game remaining…Labor Day Monday vs. Scranton/WB (1:35 pm) in the season-finale. More Hits and More Runs – The PawSox have out-hit their opponents on the season by a wide margin (1106 hits to 1062) and have been out-scored by the opposition by just 2 runs total on the year (Sox have scored 512 runs and allowed 514 runs). Road Getting Smoother – The PawSox have won 8 of their last 11 road games since August 9 and are now 29-37 on the road – they had the worst away mark in the league until this recent road surge. They had dropped 15 of their previous 20 on the road between June 26 – August 8. The Sox have won 10 of their last 18 games at home dating back to July 14. Pawtucket was a season-high 5- games over .500 on August 4 and they are now 34-31 at McCoy. What Have You Done for Me Lately – The PawSox are 15-10 since August 1 after going 3-11 in their previous 14 games between July 17-31. Included during that stretch was a season-high 6-game losing streak from July 17-22. Their recent 4-game winning streak (August 9-12) marked the first time they had been able to win more than two in a row since a 3-game winning streak from July 14-16. The 2018 Season-Series vs. Buffalo – The PawSox lead the Bisons, 10 games to 9 in the 2018 season-series with tonight’s final meeting on tap. Pawtucket finished 5-4 at home vs. the Bisons and they are 5-5 here in Buffalo.