PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND — A three-run home run by Sean Coyle broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the sixth and propelled the Pawtucket Red Sox to a 7-3 win over the Gwinnett Braves Saturday night in game two of the three-game series at McCoy Stadium.
The homer by Coyle, his fifth of the season, came off Gwinnett reliever Ryan Weber (L, 2-1) with one out and Matt Spring and Jonathan Roof on base. Both had reached earlier on back-to-back singles off Weber.
Until that decisive blast, the game was a see-saw affair with neither team gaining more than a one-run advantage.
The G-Braves (37-37) scored the first run of the game in the top of the first off Pawtucket starter and former Kell High School (Cobb County) star Zeke Spruill. Mallex Smith led off the game with a single to center, stole second, was bunted to third by Jose Peraza and scored on a groundout to second by Eric Young, Jr.
The Red Sox (37-39) tied the game in the bottom of the first against Gwinnett starter Manny Banuelos. Quentin Berry led off with a single and moved to third on a ground-rule double to right-center by Rusney Castillo. Allen Craig plated Berry with a sacrifice fly to deep center, tying the game at 1-1.
The Red Sox edged ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second as Mike Miller drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on a two-out single to center by Berry.
But Gwinnett knotted things again at 2-2 in the top of the third as Sean Kazmar led off with a triple to right off Spruill and scored on a groundout to second by Daniel Castro.
Pawtucket came right back to retake the lead in the bottom of the third at 3-2. Shane Victorino, playing on a rehab assignment, led off with a single and Castillo and Garin Cecchini drew walks to load the bases. Banuelos then walked Spring, pushing across Victorino for the run.
Gwinnett fought back to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth. Christian Bethancourtled off with a double to center, but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single to center by Cedric Hunter. Hunter took second on the throw and advanced to third on a groundout by Todd Cunningham. Kazmar came to the rescue again, driving in Hunter with his third hit of the game to make it 3-3.
After Coyle’s homer, however, the G-Braves couldn’t come back again. Pawtucket tacked on a run to take a 7-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh as Spring lined an RBI single off right-hander Aaron Kurcz, scoring Castillo.
Banuelos, one start removed from his first career 9.0-inning complete game shutout on June 22 vs. Indianapolis, struggled with control Saturday night. He went 3.0 innings with four hits, three earned runs, four walks, one strikeout and a hit batsman. Weber pitched 3.0 innings with three earned runs on three hits and one strikeout. Kurcz worked 1.0 inning with one run on two hits. Carlos Fisher pitched 1.0 inning with one hit and two strikeouts.
For Pawtucket, Spruill pitched 5.2 innings with 10 hits, three earned runs, one walk and one strikeout. Jess Todd (W, 3-2) won in relief with two hits, one walk and one strikeout over 2.1 innings. Pat Light completed the game for the Red Sox with a scoreless top of the ninth including one strikeout.
At the plate for Gwinnett, Kazmar was 3-for-4 with a triple, run scored and an RBI. Smith was 3-for-5 with a run scored and a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Hunter went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Castillo and Spring each were 2-for-3 for Pawtucket. Berry went 2-for-5.
The G-Braves and Red Sox conclude the three-game series Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium, first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. Gwinnett’s starting pitcher has yet to be announced. The Red Sox will start right-hander Joe Kelly (0-0, 0.00). Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 12:30 p.m.
