The Pawtucket Red Sox scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees 12-7 last night and in the process, won the 2011 International League North Division title.  The PawSox have advanced to the post season for the first time since 2008 and have won their first division pennant since 2003.

Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, Yankees reliever Eric Wordekemper led off the inning by hitting Che-Hsuan Lin with a pith and walking Drew Sutton.  Kevin Whelan replaced Wordekemper on the mound and Joey Gathright came on to run for Sutton.  Ryan Lavarnway then gave the PawSox the lead with one swing of the bat, lifting a 3-2 pitch over the fence in left for a three-run home run.

The PawSox were not done scoring in the inning.  Singles by Lars Anderson and Daniel Nava and a walk to Hector Luna loaded the bases for Pawtucket.  Whelan then settled down to strike out Will Middlebrooks and Luis Exposito.  Jose Iglesias drove in two runs with a single to left.  After Lin walked, Gathright drove in two more runs with a single to right.

It looked like the PawSox would have an easy time with the Yankees after they scored five runs in the bottom of the first.  The big hit was a grand slam by Middlebrooks, his first homer in a Pawtucket uniform.

Tony Pena, Jr. started for Pawtucket and gave up four runs on six hits over five innings.  He walked one and struck out two.  Pena gave up a solo home run to Yankees 1B Mike Lamb in the top of the first.

Junichi Tazawa and Trevor Miller gave up a combined three runs.  Royce Ring (1-2) picked-up the win.  Randy Williams was on the mound to record the division-clinching out.

The PawSox have two regular season games remaining, both with the Rochester Red Wings.  Game one will be this afternoon at 1:05p.m. at McCoy.  Deinys Suarez (0-3, 6.53 ERA) will get the start for Rochester.  Alex Wilson (1-0, 3.00 ERA) takes to the mound for the PawSox.

BOX SCORE

The Pawtucket Red Sox took a step closer to clinching its first post season berth in four years by beating the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees 4-3 last night at McCoy.  The magic number for the PawSox to win the I.L. North Division is down to one.

The Yankees wasted little time in scoring the first run of the game in the bottom of the first as lead-off hitter Kevin Russo greeted PawSox starter Matt Fox with a solo home run to left.

The PawSox responded with two runs in the bottom of the first.  Che-Hsuan Lin led off with a single and advanced to second on a ground out by Drew Sutton.  Ryan Lavarnway walked.  Lars Anderson drove in Lin with a double to right.  A Daniel Nava ground out plated Lavarnway one batter later.

A Sutton walk and Lavarnway double resulted in the PawSox third run in the third.  Hector Luna belted a solo homer to center in the sixth to cap the Pawtucket scoring.

Fox (10-4), recently removed from the PawSox’ temporarily inactive list, got the win, giving up one run on four hits over five innings.  He walked three and struck out four.

Anderson and Luna had two hits each for the PawSox.

The finale of the series with Scranton is tonight at 6:05p.m.  Manny Banuelos (2-2, 3.03 ERA) rakes to the hill for the Yankees.  Tony Pena Jr. (9-6, 3.40 ERA) will throw for the PawSox.

BOX SCORE

NOTES: Royce Ring joined Fox yesterday in being removed from the temporarily inactive list.  The pair take the roster spots left open by the promotion to Boston by Felix Doubrontand the trade of Jason Rice to Oakland..

Sutton came off the disabled list yesterday while Tony Thomas was added to the DL (retroactive to August 31) with a left hand contusion.

On Wednesday the Red Sox signed OF Joey Gathright and he has joined the PawSox. The 30 year-old Gathright has played in 445 games in the majors with Tampa Bay (2005-06), Kansas City (2006-08), the Cubs (2009), and the Red Sox (2009) compiling a .263 average with 1 HR, 96 RBI and 80 SB. He played in 3 games for the PawSox in 2009 (2-for-10) and was promoted to Boston in September of ’09 hitting .313 in 17 games for the Red Sox. He was with the Norfolk Tides (Orioles-AAA) for much of last season batting .185 in 61 games. Joey spent this season playing for Yuma (Arizona) of the North American
Independent League. He was hitting .347 with 20 SB after joining the Scorpions on June 10.

For the second consecutive game the Rochester Red Wings scored early, beating the Pawtucket Red Sox 4-2 last night and sweeping the two game series at Frontier Field.  The good news for the PawSox is that Lehigh Valley also lost last night, meaning Pawtucket remains two games ahead of the Iron Pigs for first place in the I.L. North Division with four games to play.

The Red Wings scored three runs in the first two innings off PawSox starter Kyle Weiland (8-10).  An RBI double by Jeff Bailey and a run scoring single by Dusitn Martin plated two runs in the first.  A Jair Fernandez double in the second drove in Rochester’s third run.

Weiland finished the day by giving up four runs on seven hits over six innings.  He walked two and struck out six.

The PawSox runs came on a sacrifice fly by Nate Spears in the fifth and a solo homer by Kevin Youkilis in the ninth.

The PawSox have today off.  They open a season-ending homestand Friday with the first of two games with the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees beginning at 7:05p.m.  Adam Warren (6-7, 3.51 ERA) will start for the Yankees vs. Matt Fox (9-4, 4.04 ERA) will throw for the PawSox.

BOX SCORE

NOTES:  Youkilis finished the game going 1 for 4 in the second game of his rehab assignment.  Sidelined with a lower back strain since August 18th, Youkilis is expected to rejoin Boston tomorrow.

J.D. Drew was slated to be the DH in last night’s game but was scratched with a sprained right middle finger.  It’s unclear whether Drew will be reactivated by the Red Sox as planned tomorrow.

Before the game on Tuesday the Red Sox signed reliever Trevor Miller and assigned him to the PawSox.  The 38- year old Miller has pitched for seven major league organizations.  He pitched for the PawSox in 2001.

The Rochester Red Wings scored five runs in the first inning, and then hung on to a 8-6 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox last night at Frontier Field.  Despite the loss the PawSox remain two games on top of Lehigh Valley in the I.L. North Division with five games to play.  The PawSox’ magic number to claim a play-off spot is three.

The Red Wings got off to the hot start off PawSox starter Greg Smith (4-4).  The big hit in the five run first was a three run homer to right by Rochester RF Brian Dinkelman.

The PawSox had the help of Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis and OF J.D. Drew who are with the club on rehab assignments.  Drew finished the day 3 for 3 with three singles.  Youkilis went 1 for 4 with a walk.

Down 6-0 the PawSox scored four times in the fifth.  With one out Drew singled and Youkilis walked.  Ryan Lavarnway then drove a two run double to center.  Daniel Nava then drove in Lavarnway with a double of his own.  Nava scored one batter later on a RBI single by Lars Anderson.

A Nava triple and Anderson sacrifice fly drove in a run in the seventh.  A double play by Lavarnway in the ninth resulted in the sixth Pawtucket run to score in the ninth.

Smith gave up a total of six runs on six hits over five innings.  He walked three and struck out three.

The finale of the two game series, and the final regular season road game for the PawSox is tonight at 7:05p.m. Kyle Weiland (8-9, 3.46 ERA) will start for the PawSox.  He faces Liam Hendriks (3-4, 5.23 ERA) for Rochester.

BOX SCORE

The Pawtucket Red Sox collected a total of three hits over the double header last night against the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees.  But it was good enough to earn a split, with the PawSox losing game one 3-0 but winning game two 2-0.

The PawSox lone hit in game one came by Jose Iglesias, a single in the sixth.  Pawtucket was totally shut down by Yankees starter Manny Banuelos (2-2), who went the distance for the win.  He gave up two walks and struck out six.

Tony Pena Jr (9-6) took the loss for Pawtucket, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits over 4 2/3 innings.  He walked three and struck out four.  He did surrender a solo home run to the Yankees’ Jesus Montero.

The PawSox rode the back of starter Alex Wilson to a win in game two.  Wilson (1-0) got his first win for the PawSox, shutting down the Yankees on five hits over five innings.  He walked one and struck out nine.

Pawtucket scored their runs in the fourth on a Nate Spears walk and a two run homer by Ryan Lavarnway.

Pawtucket’s only other hit was a Tony Thomas single in the fifth.

With the split the PawSox remain two games ahead of Lehigh Valley for first place in the IL North Division with six games to play.  Pawtucket now heads to Rochester to begin a two game series with the Red Wings beginning tonight at 7:05p.m.  Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew may both be on hand to begin a rehab assignment with Pawtucket.  Greg Smith is slated to get the start.

BOX SCORE GAME ONE

BOX SCORE GAME TWO

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