Kelly Shoppach clouts two homers in an eight-run second inning as the Bisons are downed in horrid weather conditions.

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 24, 2005

BY DAN HICKLING
Special to the Journal

BUFFALO -- Intermittent downpours, sloppy footing, near-freezing wind chills. Even Ernie Banks would've refused to play two in those conditions.

It was all the Pawtucket Red Sox could do yesterday to squeeze in just one seven-inning game of their slated double-header with the Buffalo Bisons. But it was worth the effort.

The PawSox, paced by Kelly Shoppach's sixth career multi-homer game, eviscerated their hosts, 14-5, before an announced crowd of 5,557 (it appeared that there were only about 200 in the stands) at Dunn Tire Park.

What would have been the nightcap was rescheduled to today at 1:05 p.m., when the teams will again try to wedge in a pair of seven-inning contests.

This one likely wouldn't have been played at all, but with today's forecast calling for snow showers, the only other option would have been to stack up several double-headers with the Bisons later in the season.

"It was a mess," said PawSox third baseman Tim Hummel. "You just never knew when you were going to slip. Or with a ground ball, you never knew how wet it was going to be, or where it was going to go once you threw it."

Said Pawtucket skipper Ron Johnson, "The field was actually unplayable the last two or three innings. I know what they were thinking, just try to get in one. Had it been a close game, I think you have to stop the game."

Buffalo put up four runs in the first inning, three of them on former PawSox Andy Abad's third homer of the year.

But Pawtucket roared back with eight runs in the top of the second off Bisons starter Jeremy Guthrie.

Shoppach accounted for half the damage in that frame, muscling two opposite field homers (Nos. 5 and 6) to right center.

Pawtucket sent 11 men to the plate in the second, making Guthrie pay for giving up five hits, walking two batters and hitting another.

"He helped us out a little bit by losing his command," said Shoppach, "but he's got good stuff. I'm sure the conditions had something to do about it."

So, too, did Shoppach's swings, the first of which led off the inning. The second, a three-run blast, made it 8-4 and sent Guthrie to the warmth of the Bison clubhouse.

"I knew with the wind blowing out, that both balls had a chance," said Shoppach, who is in just his third professional year. "But I'm not one of those guys who knows whether I 'get' them or not. I just kind of hit it and get going."

PawSox starter Tim Kester shrugged off that rocky first inning, but was unable to get past the fourth. Mark Malaska (1-0) took over and pitched the final three innings.

AROUND THE BASES: Marv Levy, who became a legend in this town as coach of the Bills, once said that his favorite play to run was the "kneel down," meaning that victory was well in hand.

The baseball corollary would be to have an opposing position player take the mound, a sort of white flag of surrender, as Abad did for the final two innings (both scoreless) against his old mates.

Symbolism aside, such situations make Johnson a bit squeamish.

"I don't like it," he said. "I understand it. I've done it. But it's not really fun. You become paranoid because you don't want to take any RBIs away from a hitter. But you don't want to send the message that you're trying to show somebody up."

Elsewhere, with the Portland Sea Dogs having been rained out yesterday, the rehab start of Bosox righthander Wade Miller has been pushed back to this afternoon . . . The last PawSox to slug two homers in one inning was Dwayne Hosey, back on Aug. 10, 1996. It was also the first two-homer inning by one player in the 16-year history of Dunn Tire Park . . .

Today's probables for the PawSox are lefties Chris Narveson (0-1, 4.15) and Abe Alvarez (1-0, 4.60). Buffalo will counter with LHP Brian Tallet (0-0, 3.60) and RHP Francisco Cruceta (1-1, 7.68).