Playoff Pitching Matchups; Game Previews 9/9/11

International League Playoffs (First round)
Pawtucket Red Sox (Tony Pena Jr.)
vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Ryan Edell) 7:05pm

GAME 2 – PawSox vs. IronPigs – Pawtucket does not want to come home having to win all three games, so a win tonight will be tantamount to their aspirations of moving on. The IronPigs three solo home runs were enough to hold off the PawSox last night in game 1. Tonight, Tony Pena Jr. looks to keep the Sox from an 0-2 hole. Pena had two straight starts against Lehigh Valley back in July, earning no decisions while posting a 4.50 ERA over 14 innings. Randy Edell gets the game 2 start for the IronPigs. Edell picked up 10 wins on the season between Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley, including one against the PawSox back on July 29th in a relief appearance…The PawSox got six hits from six different batters last night and struck out 10 times…In the other International League playoff series, the Columbus Clippers took a 2-0 lead over the Durham Bulls with a 3-0 win in game 2 last night.

Eastern League Playoffs (First round)
Reading Phillies (J.C. Ramirez)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Nestor Molina) 7:05pm

GAME 2 – RPhils vs. Fisher Cats – Chad Jenkins pitched brilliantly for the Fisher Cats last night as they won their first ever playoff game at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. They hope for more of the same tonight from Nestor Molina as they look to take a 2-0 lead before heading off to Reading. J.C. Ramirez gets the start for the RPhils after rattling off wins in his last three starts of the regular season. Ramirez has five starts against the Cats this season and compiled a 3-2 record, including two wins at NeDDS. Molina had five starts with New Hampshire after his call up from Class-A Dunedin, but none against the Phillies. Molina has not lost a game since May 31st (with Dunedin) and in his five starts with the Cats he has 33 strikeouts in 22 innings…Catcher Travis d’Arnaud went 2-4 with a double and and RBI last night to lead the New Hampshire offense…The Harrisburg Senators and Richmond Flying Squirrels have yet to play a game in the other Eastern League series, with two games being washed out by rain.

New York-Penn League Playoffs (First round)
Vermont Lake Monsters (Seth Frankoff)
vs. Auburn Doubledays (Brian Dupra) 7:05pm

GAME 3 – Lake Monsters vs. Doubledays – It all comes down to this for the Lake Monsters, who in their prior two playoff appearances, have advanced out of the first round. Now with their first round series tied at one, it’s win-or-go-home for Vermont who start Seth Frankoff tonight. He started 14 regular season games this year and was stellar over his last three, allowing no runs in 19 1/3 innings. Frankoff did not face the Auburn this season. Brian Dupra gets the start for the Doubledays after posting a 4-4 record in the regular season. Dupra has nine starts on the season, none against the Lake Monsters…Dusty Robinson picked up two of the five Vermont hits last night as the Auburn pitchers whiffed 13 Lake Monsters…The Staten Island Yankees took game 1 of their first round series against the Brooklyn Cyclones last night with a 2-0 victory.