PawSox head to break with 4-3 win

(WPRI) - Led by an explosion of power in the middle innings, including two homeruns by designated hitter Ryan Lavarnway, Pawtucket found just enough offense to enter the All-Star break with a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Bisons on a picturesque Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium.

Ryan Lavarnway doubled in the first inning and then homered in his next two times to the plate to jumpstart the PawSox offense. His first homer made it 1-0 Pawtucket and his second was a two-run blast to the berm in left center field an inning later to extend the lead to 4-1.

The only other run of the game came on a Hector Luna homerun to right-center field two batters after Lavarnway's fourth-inning homerun. Luna's homerun was his first since June 30th which was the last of three consecutive games with a homerun for Luna against Rochester.

Entering the game, Lavarnway had five homeruns on the season and all of them came when he was in the lineup as a catcher. He went his first 47 at-bats as a designated hitter in Pawtucket without a homerun before homering in back-to-back at-bats.

Matt Fox tossed 5.1 innings of two-run baseball to pick up his fifth victory of the season. He struck out seven Bisons and allowed just two hits in his outing in which he totaled 97 pitches. Fox (5-3, 4.82 ERA) will be representing the International League Wednesday in Salt Lake City in the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Randy Williams pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save of the season- and his second save in as many days- to lower his season ERA to 1.37.

Sunday's game marked the end of the first half of the International League season. Pawtucket enters the three-day All-Star break with a record of 50-41 to put them at a season-best nine games over .500. After three days off, the PawSox will host the Durham Bulls for a four-game series beginning Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Brandon Duckworth (4-6, 4.44 ERA) will be on the mound for the game, and it will be Christmas in July at McCoy Stadium. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be in attendance and the first 3,000 youngsters aged 14-and-under will receive a PawSox Christmas Gift courtesy of Express Employment Professional and Coast 93.3 FM.

Following the all-star break, the Boston Red Sox will send OF Carl Crawford to Pawtucket for an injury rehab assignment for games on Friday (7:05 pm) and Saturday (6:05 pm) nights. Crawford has been on the Red Sox' disabled list since June 18 with a left hamstring strain suffered while beating out an infield single in the bottom of the 1st-inning on June 17 vs. Milwaukee.