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By BRENDAN MCGAIR Sports writer PAWTUCKET – All systems appear go for Bartolo Colon to head up to Boston, but hold on a second.
The burly right-hander worked six splendid innings in Pawtucket’s beatdown of Lehigh Valley, 9-2, Monday afternoon in the regular-season finale. Colon inspired enough confidence with his 66 pitches (48 strikes) and one run on four hits, but the word out of Boston is that they would like to see Colon make one more start.
Colon topped out at 91 mph. He was assisted greatly by the free-swinging IronPigs, which forced him to throw just 29 pitches through three innings.
“When you have a guy like that down here, you looking to see how they are physically, how the ups-and-downs are going and the command,” said PawSox manager Ron Johnson after his club recorded victory No. 85. “He showed us a little bit of everything today.”
Johnson hinted that Colon could be in the market for a new challenge, but that was before Colon got on the phone with Boston pitching coach John Farrell. He made eight starts for the PawSox this season, going 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA. “All of sudden they go in front of 35,000 and they (kick it up) a notch,” said Johnson. “I think we’re pleased with what happened.”
The only run Lehigh Valley scratched off Colon came in the sixth, his final inning. The frame came on the heels of Pawtucket sending 11 to the plate and scoring five times in the last of the fifth.
“He ran by me and said ‘Long inning,’ but I was pleased to see what he did (in the sixth),” said Johnson.
The offensive change was led by Jeff Natale, who clubbed his third home run as part of a 3-for-3 day with three RBI. Keith Ginter finished with tow hits and two RBI. Miguel Asencio pitched two scoreless innings
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Johnson announced the pitching lineup for the first two games of the opening round series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Knuckleballer Charlie Zink goes in Wednesday’s opener with Devern Hansack penciled in to start Thursday. Right now Game Three’s starter is TBA.
As far as Scranton’s pitching plans, the Scranton Times/Tribune reports Chase Wright and Ian Kennedy will get the nod, respectively, in the first two games. Kennedy, who last worked Saturday. Kennedy pitched his way back to Scranton after his August 10 outing in Los Angeles – five runs on nine hits in two innings – was an utter disaster. Prior to that start, Kennedy pitched in McCoy on August 3, holding the PawSox to two runs over seven innings.
Kei Igawa, author of 14 wins, stands to pitch Friday in Game 3 when the series shifts to PNC Field. Phil Hughes pitched Monday for Scranton, meaning the earliest he can pitch next is Saturday, which would be Game Four.
Unlike Major League Baseball, the International League grants its playoff participants the ability to make roster moves during the course of a series. That could possibly leave the door open for Clay Buchholz to return to Pawtucket. Buchholz last pitched on Saturday for Double-A Portland, throwing eight shutout innings.
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Chris Carter’s final average stands exactly at .300 thanks to Johnson. That’s where the average stood going into the last of the eighth before Johnson pulled Carter for a pinch hitter. He was seen high-fiving teammates in the dugout, flashing a smile that screamed relief.
“We’re going to give him the Ted Williams treatment,” joked Johnson. “I went up to him and said ‘A whole season is going to come down to this at-bat.’”
Joe Thurston didn’t have to worry about such drama. The PawSox second baseman finished at .316.
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EXTRA BASES: Natale was hit by a pitch in the fourth, making it the seventh time in 25 games with the PawSox. Average that out the 143 games the PawSox played this season and Natale would have plunked 40 times. … A total of 16 different PawSox players spent time in Boston, one better than from a season ago. Factor in also rehab stints made by David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Alex Cora, Mike Timlin and Sean Casey “It's a remarkable accomplishment for (Johnson) and this group of outstanding players,” reflected PawSox team president Mike Tamburro. “The veteran leadership on this team, the Red Sox did an outstanding job of going out and signing some quality six-year free agents who were the leaders of this club. Then we've have some great young players develop. It's been a fun year.” … Pawtucket finished atop the International League in attendance for the third time in the last five years (2004 & 2005). The PawSox broke the 600,000 mark for the seventh time and the fifth in a row. The final total stands at 636,788, the fourth-best mark in team history. “We're going to be in the vicinity of 635,000 fans, which will be our second or third best year ever,” said Tamburro. “That's a tribute to these great fans who come out and support us year after year.” … The tentative 2009 IL schedule has the PawSox beginning the season on the road for eight games before playing the home opener April 17 against Lehigh Valley. … Speaking of the IronPigs, the PawSox absolutely owned the IL’s new kid on the block, going 15-1
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