By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET --- What appeared to be the makings of a marquee pitchers’ duel between two of the game’s top pitching prospects quickly turned out to be the complete opposite on Wednesday night at McCoy Stadium.
Neither Pawtucket Red Sox righthander Michael Bowden nor Norfolk Tides southpaw Troy Patton made it out of the fourth inning of their appearances, which saw both ballclubs combine for 23 hits (eight of them for extra bases) and 11 walks.
Unfortunately for the PawSox, the Tides collected 14 of those hits and had a pair of three-run rallies in the early going that helped them escape with an 8-7 victory that took 3½ hours to complete and gave Pawtucket its ninth loss in its last 11 games. 
Bowden endured his worst outing in more than a month. He surrendered six runs on six hits and three walks in three innings of work and was gone from the game after failing to retire the first three batters he faced in the fourth.
Patton, who is the No. 8 prospect in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization, just lasted 3 2/3 innings, and like Bowden, yielded six runs on as many hits and three walks. Patton also threw 41 of his 71 pitches for strikes, and Bowden tossed 42 of  71 into the zone.
The PawSox drew first blood with a pair of runs in the home half of the first inning, as a leadoff single to left by Brian Anderson and a double down the left-field line by Mark Wagner was followed by a run-scoring groundout by Chris Carter and a run-scoring single to right by Chris Duncan.
The Tides collected five of their hits in the second to take the lead, as Chad Moeller laced a two-run double to left and Brandon Pinckney followed with a RBI double to deep center, but the PawSox reclaimed the lead in their half of the frame on a three-run homer to deep left by Anderson, his third in nine games with the PawSox.
After the hosts added another run in the third on a fielder’s choice grounder by Travis Denker, the Tides answered with a three-run uprising in the fourth that knocked Bowden out of the game.
Bowden got off to a shaky start by throwing 11 straight balls to kick off the inning and got the hook from PawSox manager Ron Johnson after allowing a run-scoring single to right by Pinckney.
Jose Vaquedano came in for Bowden, but didn’t fare any better, giving up a two-run double into the gap in left-center to Justin Turner and back-to-back walks, but Rocky Cherry put out the fire by getting the next batter to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
The Tides eventually took the lead in the fifth on another RBI double to left by Pinckney, and they added their final run in the sixth on a throwing error by Denker at second base on what would have been a double-play grounder.
Carter cut the PawSox’s deficit in half in the seventh, when with one out, he golfed a solo shot deep into the picnic area in right for his team-leading 13th homer of the season.
In the ninth, the PawSox tried to rally with one gone on base hits by Wagner and Carter, but Tides reliever Bob McCrory set down the next two batters he faced to end the game.
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Southpaw pitcher Billy Traber became the 11th member of the PawSox to get the call to Boston on Wednesday afternoon when the Red Sox added him to the roster and optioned rookie outfielder John Reddick to Pawtucket.
To make room for Traber on the 40-man roster, infielder Gil Velazquez was designated for assignment.
Traber was 7-5 with a 3.32 ERA in 32 contests (four of them spot starts) for the PawSox, and boasted a 2.15 ERA in his 28 games out of the bullpen. He spent the entire 2003 season with the Cleveland Indians and parts of the last three years with the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees.  
Reddick, who was Boston’s 17th-round pick in the 2006 MLB draft, went 5-for-6 with three doubles, a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored in four games with the Red Sox after being promoted from the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs last Friday.
Reddick was batting .277 with 13 homers and 29 RBIs with the Sea Dogs, and he is expected to make his Triple-A debut in tonight‘s game against the Tides.
Velazquez, who was regarded as the PawSox’s best defensive infielder, was hitting just .190 with 13 RBIs in 73 games. Earlier in the year, he appeared in six contests with the Red Sox, all as a defensive replacement, and he was also 0-for-2 at the plate.   
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Notes: Denker, who had been designated for assignment by the Red Sox last Friday, was outrighted back to the PawSox on Wednesday and got the start at second base. Denker entered the game with a .248 average and four home runs and 37 RBIs in 88 games. … Warnings were issued to both teams after Patton hit Carter and Duncan with consecutive pitches to open the third. … The Tides, whose team colors are black and orange, wore retro powder blue warmup jerseys before the contest. … Tonight’s pitching matchup between the PawSox’s Randor Bierd (1-1, 5.33) and Tides’ David Pauley (7-9, 4.23) pits two players who were traded for each other on Jan. 19. Pauley, who had spent the last three seasons with the PawSox, was 14-4 with a 3.55 ERA last year. … Before tonight’s contest, the PawSox will honor to award-winning journalist Larry Tye and former Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd. Tye recently wrote the best-selling biography of Satchel Paige titled “Satchel, The Life and Times of an American Legend”, and Boyd, who currently lives in East Providence, pitched for the PawSox in 1983, ’84, and ’87 and Red Sox from 1982-89. 
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Norfolk       030   311   000 -- 8-14-0
Pawtucket       231   000   100 -- 7-9-1
Patton, Waters (4), Sarfate (7), Mickolio (8), McCrory (9) and Moeller; Bowden, Vaquedano (4), Cherry (4), Lopez (8), Cabrera (9) and Wagner. W -- Waters, 9-5. L -- Cherry, 3-1. SV -- McCrory, 4. 2B -- Pinckney 2, Turner, Dorta, Moeller, Wagner. HR -- Anderson (3), Carter (13).