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By ERIC BENEVIDES Sports writer PAWTUCKET --- Michael Tejera needed an outing like the one he delivered on Wednesday night.
The Pawtucket Red Sox southpaw starter tossed six sparkling innings of four-hit ball against one of the International League's top teams, the Syracuse Chiefs, and helped the PawSox record their fourth victory in their last five games, a 3-1 triumph at McCoy Stadium.
Tejera, a 31-year-old veteran with three-plus years of big-league service with the Florida Marlins and Texas Rangers, entered the game with an 0-2 record and a 5.74 ERA, but left it with an impressive showing that saw him strike out four batters, walk one, and retire 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.
"Michael was outstanding," added PawSox manager Ron Johnson, whose club is 12-8. "He's been throwing the ball well, but today, he was really locked in. It looked like he was scuffling a little with his command with the first couple of hitters, but after the first inning, I thought he settled down and did a super, super job."
Chiefs starter David Purcey, who entered the game among the IL leaders in strikeouts (21) and ERA (1.89), saw his record fall to 2-1 (and his team dip to 13-8) despite pitching well enough to win most starts. In six innings, he yielded five hits, four walks, and three runs and fanned nine batters to take over the league lead in that department.
"That young man was throwing the absolute daylights out of the baseball," Johnson said of Purcey. "That was the first time I've seen him pitch and I was very impressed."
Pawtucket armed Tejera with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a two-out, run-scoring double to right field by Gil Velazquez and an error on that hit by right fielder Wayne Lydon that sent home the second run.
With one out, Keith Ginter laced a base hit, and with two gone, Chad Spann worked a walk to bring Velazquez to the dish. Velazquez, who delivered the game-winning hit in the 10th inning of Monday afternoon's 6-5 win over the Buffalo Bisons, promptly lined his double near the right-field line to plate Ginter, and when the ball got past Lydon, Spann was able to score with ease.
Tejera made his only mistake of the night in the fourth, when with two gone and no one on base, he left a 2-1 pitch out in the middle of the plate to Eric Nielsen, who belted it into the berm in left field, but he proceeded to mow down his final seven batters, not allowing any of them to hit the ball out of the infield. He ended his night throwing 80 pitches, 48 of them for strikes.
"He really started to command his secondary stuff," added Johnson. "He started throwing off-speed stuff early in his counts and then began mixing his fastball back and forth. It was very impressive.
"I think he was throwing pretty well, but this early in the season, we're going to obviously be a little bit cautious with pitch counts. But this was one of those games where you saw the tempo he set and the command he was featuring. A month from now, with this type (of outing), he'll be taking it very late into the ballgame."
In the bottom of the fifth, George Kottaras got that run back with a two-out homer off Purcey, a blast that left the yard in a hurry and landed in the parking lot in right field. That shot was his sixth round-tripper of the season and snapped an 0-for-11 slump.
When Tejera departed, the bullpen took care of the rest of the ballgame. Eric Hull and Bryan Corey teamed up to pitch a scoreless seventh, southpaw Jon Switzer delivered a 1-2-3 eighth, and closer Lee Gronkiewicz duplicated Switzer's effort in the ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Corey joined the PawSox yesterday after the Red Sox re-signed him to a minor-league contract. He was designated for assignment by Boston after absorbing a 14.54 ERA in six games. Corey spent most of last season with the PawSox and posted a 6-0 record that included three saves and a 3.69 ERA in 58 relief appearances.
"Bryan's going to be a really good addition to the bullpen," said Johnson. "We know what he can do and his experience and the reliability he brings to the bullpen is really nice."
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EXTRA BASES: Reliever Craig Hansen's promotion to Boston, starting pitcher David Pauley's return to Pawtucket after Tuesday night's spot start for the Red Sox, and Corey's return to McCoy weren't the only player moves made in the past couple of days. ... The PawSox placed infielder Jeff Natale on the 7-day disabled list with a fractured left forearm after he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning of Monday's contest against the Buffalo Bisons. Replacing him on the roster is infielder Aaron Reza, who was transferred from Single-A Greenville. Boston's 22nd-round pick in last year's MLB draft, Reza was batting .353 with 18 hits, three home runs, and a South Atlantic League-leading seven doubles. ... The team is currently one under the roster limit with 23 active players. ... Ginter extended his hit streak to six games with an infield single in the second. ... Outfielder Chris Carter has just one hit in his last 14 at-bats, and Spann is 2-for-his-last-23. ... After striking out 11 times in their last game, the PawSox fanned 12 times last night. ... Center fielder Jonathan Van Emery ended the game with a nice diving catch to his right of a sinking line drive by Nielsen. ... PawSox knuckleballer Charlie Zink, who was the IL's Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 14-20, takes a 2-1 record (3.12 ERA) into today's 12:05 p.m. matinee. He will be opposed by southpaw Bill Murphy (2-1, 2.55).
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