Bailey may make promotional appearance
BALTIMORE - He waited 11 years for his first call-up to the big leagues. Now Jeff Bailey may be on the verge of another.
Bailey's promotion this weekend to the Red Sox from Pawtucket is dependent on the disposition of Daisuke Matsuzaka. If Matsuzaka, who is scheduled to undergo an MRI today in Boston, is placed on the disabled list - a distinct possibility - the Sox figure to add a bat for a four-game series against the Orioles beginning tonight.
The Sox don't need another starting pitcher until Tuesday, which is why they moved up Justin Masterson's first start for the PawSox to last night, after he was originally scheduled to make his Pawtucket debut tomorrow. But in the interim, another bat would be useful in Baltimore, and no one has swung a hotter bat in Pawtucket this month than Bailey.
The righthanded hitter, who last July homered off Detroit's Nate Robertson during a three-game call-up, began play last night having hit 11 home runs and driven in 30 runs this month, while batting .333. He has homered more than any other minor leaguer this month.
Last night he added two homers and three RBIs to support Masterson - who went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits while walking one and striking out four - in a 5-2 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Overall, Bailey was batting .314, 10th in the International League. His 14 home runs ranked fourth and he was third in RBIs with 41. If he was still catching, Bailey might already be in the big leagues. But he tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder, then developed a mystifying inability to throw from behind the plate that led to a position switch. But the native of Kelso, Wash., originally drafted by the Marlins, can swing the bat, and with an on-base percentage of .411 and slugging percentage of .634, he might provide a boost to a Sox offense that has stagnated in the first six games of a 10-game trip, scoring just 14 runs - an average of 2.3 a game - while batting just .169.
And while he is hardly the prototype leadoff hitter, Bailey has been thriving in the role. His 39 runs ranked third in the league. Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson has had Bailey splitting time between the outfield (primarily right field) and first base, although with Brandon Moss back from his appendectomy, Bailey is playing more outfield.
Masterson had not pitched since holding the Royals to three hits and a run in 6 1/3 innings May 20 in Boston for his first big league win. In his debut, April 24 against the Angels, he gave up two hits and a run in six innings but was not involved in the decision. Masterson, who started the season with Double A Portland, was optioned to Pawtucket after the Royals game but was skipped a turn to give him a breather.
Homebodies
The Sox affiliates in New England are mirroring the parent club's dominance at home. Publicist Bill Wanless notes that the PawSox came into last night's game 20-9 at McCoy Stadium, the best home record in the IL. The Double A Portland Sea Dogs were 17-9 at Hadlock Field, the best home record in the Eastern League. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are 21-5 at home. The aggregate record is 58-23, a winning percentage of .716.The PawSox had won 15 of their last 19 games, drawing into a first-place tie with Scranton, until losing Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lefthanded-hitting Chris Carter has had a big month, batting .347 with 7 home runs entering play last night - when he added another homer. Carter, whose average had dropped to .259, is up to .320, seventh in the league, and his 63 hits rank second. He has played an adequate left field, though opponents have run at will on his weak arm. On the other outfield corner, Joe Thurston, who went hitless in eight at-bats in his big league call-up earlier this season, was batting .333 with 2 home runs and 14 RBIs for the month, while catcher Dusty Brown was batting .333 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 14 games, including home runs in each of his last three.
Moss has swung a hot bat since his return (.379, 1 HR, 7 RBIs), and the PawSox expect reinforcements, perhaps tonight. Shortstop Jed Lowrie, who missed 12 games after injuring his left wrist May 16 on a tag play at second base - no structural damage was detected - is expected back, along with outfielder Bobby Kielty, who has been out since undergoing hand surgery last month. They should only strengthen an offense that began last night batting a league-best .271. The last time the PawSox led the league in hitting was 1998.
The pitching also has been formidable - a 3.51 ERA that ranked second in the league. David Pauley has won his last four starts, with a 2.42 ERA (6 ER in 22 2/3 IP). In the bullpen, two promotions from Portland, lefthander Hunter Jones and submariner Jose Vaquedano have impressed, Jones giving up a run in 6 2/3 innings while Vaquedano has a 2.08 ERA in six appearances.
Sarasota calling
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that city and county officials are trying to lure the Sox to that Florida city with a $70 million stadium with a 12,000-seat capacity, about $30 million more than they were willing to spend on their outgoing tenants, the Cincinnati Reds. The paper reports that city officials are drafting a plan that would give Sarasota an exclusive 90-day negotiating window that would preclude the Sox from negotiating with Lee County, which holds the lease on City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, or any other city . . . Closer Daniel Bard remains on the fast track since his promotion to Portland. Bard has allowed just one run, on a home run, in six innings while whiffing nine. Sox officials raved about Bard's appearance in a 4-1 decision over New Britain, when he closed out a win for Michael Bowden by pitching the last two innings, striking out the final batter on a 99-mile-per-hour fastball. Bowden was terrific in that game, allowing just one hit and an unearned run in seven innings. His 2.47 ERA is fourth in the EL, and he has 53 strikeouts in 54 innings. Portland came into last night's game just a half-game out of first place after winning five of six; outfielder Zach Daeges, a sixth-round pick in 2006 who hit .330 last season in Single A Lancaster, continues to rake; the lefthanded hitter out of Creighton University was batting .336, third in the EL . . . In Lancaster, Jorge Jimenez, a lefthanded-hitting third baseman who was taken in the 16th round in 2006, was batting .357, second in the Single A California League, and catcher Jon Still's 13 home runs also ranked second. Former Harvard star Zak Farkes recently had a double and two-run home run, his second homer of the season for Lancaster; he is batting .248 . . . Felix Doubront, a 20-year-old lefty from Venezuela, is putting up some impressive numbers for Single A Greenville: a 6-2 record, 2.25 ERA, and 49 Ks with just 4 walks in 48 innings . . . Former Sox outfielder Rick Miller replaced Butch Hobson as manager of the independent Nashua Pride, but not before the Pride gave a night to Hobson, who in eight seasons won championships in two leagues and made countless friends in the community. Hobson is managing another independent team, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League.