The PawSox scored 11 runs and pounded out 16 more hits Thursday night to win their fourth straight game, a dominating victory in the series opener at Toledo.  It is only the third time this season the team has won at least four games in a row.

Last night’s win was highlighted by a seven-run top of the seventh inning that lasted 42 minutes!  In all, 12 batters came to the plate, six of them recorded hits and three walked against three different Mud Hens pitchers.  Corey Brown drew two free passes in the inning while Mike McCoy had two hits including a two-run double that capped the rally.

The PawSox lineup looks as prolific as it has all season, and a big reason for it has been the production from two veterans at the top of the order.  Jonathan Herrera has collected three straight multi-hit games since being optioned from Boston.  He is now 7-for-15 with a double in three games played.

After starting just 1-for-8 in his first three games with Pawtucket, Andres Torres is 13-for-33 (.393) with three homers and seven RBIs in his last seven contests.  Torres hit a game-winning two-run blast in the tenth inning earlier this week in Columbus.

Right now with those two setting the table the folks in the middle of the order are having an RBI feast.  Travis Shaw (15 RBIs in his last 16 games played), Alex Hassan (13 RBI in his last 16 games played) and Brown (8 RBI in his last 7 games played) have been on run-producing tears.

In the last 24 games played Pawtucket has raised its team batting average 14 points, from .236 to .250!  That is hard to do nearly 100 games deep into the season.  During that time the PawSox have hit .286 (243-for-849) and averaged 5.6 runs/game (134 total).

This is really looking like a different PawSox team than the one I wrote about at the midway point of the season last month – the version that won games with pitching and defense and hoped to scratch out enough runs.  I said then that if the squad could get some consistent offense this could be a playoff contender.  Don’t look now, but the team is now just 3.0 games out of the wildcard spot (Pawtucket is 50-46, Rochester 53-43.)

Here are a few more notes to get you ready for the final three games before the All-Star break:

–Hassan has been on a doubles binge that past few weeks.  He has collected 12 two-baggers in his last 15 games played including one in each of his last six games contests!  The Quincy native now leads the IL with 25 doubles this season.

When he was called up to Boston on May 30th, Hassan was hitting .217 with Pawtucket for the season.  Since returning on June 9th, the outfielder has batted .347 (33-for-95) in 26 games and raised his season average to .267.  Not a bad month!

-Welcome to backup catcher Matt Spring, a very popular figure in the clubhouse wherever he is.  Spring was promoted to the PawSox Thursday to take the spot of Christian Vazquez following Vazquez’s promotion to the big leagues.  Here is a sample of Twitter reaction to the Spring roster move yesterday:

Ryan Dent is here…wearing #21. Best of luck to Matt Spring. One of the best guys to play in Portland. Terrific person and teammate.

— Mike Antonellis (@seadogsradio) July 10, 2014

C Matt Spring goes from Portland to PawSox w/Vazquez up. Spring so highly regarded as a teammate that Sea Dogs hanging his jersey in dugout — Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 10, 2014

Looking forward to having Matt around the Pawtucket clubhouse for the first time since 2012.  He came in in the eighth inning Thursday night at Toledo and flew out in his first at-bat.

-It will be interesting to see how Manager Kevin Boles gets playing time for Ryan Roberts now that Deven Marrero and Herrera have arrived and will play the infield most nights.  Roberts is batting .358 (19-for-53) over his last 14 games played with eight RBIs and has been a cleanup hitter three times during that stretch.  His bat is so hot right now that he’s a tough guy to leave out of the lineup.

–Garin Cecchini missed Thursday’s game after suffering a scary-looking shoulder injury in a home plate collision Wednesday in Columbus.  The good news is the injury is not believed to be serious and Garin hopes to play again before the All-Star break.

-With Brandon Workman back from the Major Leagues for at least one turn in the rotation, we have not yet heard if or when he will pitch with the PawSox.  He is currently on the same schedule as Allen Webster, who is tentatively slated to start Sunday night in Toledo.  Stay tuned.

-Below is a conversation I had with PawSox closer Tommy Layne earlier this week.  He talked about making his Boston Red Sox debut last weekend and about the mentality of finishing ballgames for the first time in his career:

Game two of the series in Toledo Friday night begins at 7:00pm.  The PawSox will look for their fifth straight win, something they have only accomplished one other time this season (during the team’ six-game winning streak at the end of June.)  Chris Hernandez gets the ball on the mound looking to bounce back from a loss in Columbus on Sunday.

Hope you enjoyed, wishing you a great weekend.  Talk to you on the radio from Ohio tonight at 6:45!

Josh M