on 05-12-2008 01:25 
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By ERIC BENEVIDES Sports writer PAWTUCKET -- He may have been the leadoff batter for the past few weeks, but Jeff Bailey can still drive in runs with the best of them.
With the Pawtucket Red Sox down by a 4-0 score, Bailey doubled, homered, and drove in five runs on Sunday afternoon to key a pair of three-run rallies and help the PawSox notch an 8-5 victory over the Norfolk Tides at McCoy Stadium.
The win was the fifth in a row for the PawSox (22-16) and the third in the last 24 hours. On Saturday night, the PawSox had swept a twinbill from the Tides.
"It's tough when you play three games in a very short amount of time," noted PawSox manager Ron Johnson. "It was nice to sweep last night's doubleheader and come back and win today, especially after being down by four runs. I couldn't be more proud of these guys that I am right now."
Johnson was also proud of the performance Bailey produced. In the bottom of the third, the veteran outfielder/first baseman cut his team's deficit to a run by socking a three-run homer into the berm in left-center field, and in the fourth, he followed Jonathan Van Emery's game-tying, run-scoring single with a long two-run double some 400 feet away off the base of the wall in straightaway center.
Bailey, who was among the PawSox's leaders in home runs and RBIs in the past two seasons, has spent his last 17 games atop the lineup is batting an even (.400) with 28 hits and 14 RBIs.
"We don't really have someone that profiles a leadoff hitter, but Jeff's a guy who's very selective and not afraid to take pitches or hit with two strikes," said Johnson. "It's kind of an interesting thing and it's really worked out very well. I'm not saying we're locked into it, but right now, it's working out and it's servicing this club."
Johnson also offered praise to starting pitcher Charlie Zink, who overcame a rocky third inning to pick up his team-high fourth victory of the season. The knuckleballer struck out five batters and allowed eight hits and four third-inning runs, and even though he didn't walk anyone, he still hit a batter and uncorked a wild pitch.
"I was really proud of Charlie," added Johnson. "For one inning, (Zink's knuckleball) was flat, it was elevated, and it got hit pretty hard. But it didn't spin out of control, he was able to minimize the damage, and then he went back out there and did a really nice job."
Zink allowed five of his hits in the third, including consecutive one-out singles to Sebastien Boucher, Eider Torres, and Brandon Fahey that brought home the afternoon's first run. Two batters later, Oscar Salazar ripped the first pitch he saw from Zink into the left-field corner for a two-run double, and Scott Moore soon followed with a run-scoring single to center that plated Salazar.
But the PawSox answered back in the bottom of the inning on Bailey's home run, as he pounced on a 2-0 fastball by Norfolk starting (and losing) pitcher Chris Waters to make it a one-run game and collect his sixth roundtripper of the year.
Dusty Brown had led off with a single to center and Gil Velazquez followed by reaching base on an unusual fielder's choice grounder back to Waters, who fielded the ball and threw it to Torres, the second baseman, But Torres was still standing at his position and nowhere near the bag, and by the time he relayed the throw to first, Velazquez was safe.
"That three-run homer was obviously very big," said Johnson. "It seemed, from that point on, everyone was kind of like, 'OK, we're back' "
In the fourth, Waters walked the first two batters he faced (Keith Ginter and Brown), and after Velazquez moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, Van Every laced an opposite-field single to left to score Ginter and tie the game.
That set the tables for Bailey, who hammered a 1-0 fastball from Waters off the bottom of the wall -- and only a few feet from reaching the yellow line on the center-field shed for another home run -- and sent Brown and Van Emery home with the go-ahead runs.
The PawSox added an insurance run in the fifth when Sandy Madera raced home on catcher Ben Davis' second passed ball of the game, and they scored again in the seventh on Chris Carter's RBI single to center that drove in George Kottaras.
After Zink departed, Lincoln Holdzkom came to blank the Tides in the seventh and eighth innings, and Jose Vaquedano, who was making his Triple-A debut after getting called up from Double-A Portland earlier in the day, gave up three walks and a run-scoring fielder's choice grounder to Boucher in the ninth.
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EXTRA BASES: Earlier in the day, the Boston Red Sox traded PawSox reliever Bryan Corey to the San Diego Padres for either a player to be named later or cash considerations. Corey, who started the season with the Red Sox, pitched five scoreless innings and earned a save in five appearances with Pawtucket. His departure allowed the PawSox to call up Vaquedano, who was 4-0 with an 0.41 ERA in 13 appearances for the Sea Dogs. ... Zink, who entered the game with a 2.41 ERA that was good for ninth among the International League's leaders, saw his ERA rise to 2.91. ... Carter has been on fire in his last five games, going 9-for-18 with three doubles, two home runs, and seven RBIs. ... Velazquez has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats. ... Middle infielder Jed Lowrie, who was sent back down to Pawtucket by the Red Sox to make room for Alex Cora, who was coming off the disabled list, is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the PawSox wrap up their four-game series with the Tides. ... Either Devern Hansack (0-4, 5.89) or Kyle Snyder (1-1, 3.80) will start for the PawSox in the 6:15 p.m. game and be opposed by Tides southpaw Craig Anderson (1-2, 8.49). After the game, the PawSox will hit the road for four-game series against the Buffalo Bisons and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.
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