01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, August 3, 2005

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

PAWTUCKET -- Abe Alvarez almost made history yesterday, and in the process he proved he will be part of the future.

Pawtucket's crafty left-hander tossed a two-hit shutout through seven innings, leading the PawSox to a 7-0 victory over the Syracuse SkyChiefs in a noon matinee at McCoy Stadium yesterday.

Alvarez, 22, retired the first 16 batters he faced and had a perfect game until the SkyChiefs' Joe DePastino singled off the pitcher's glove with one out in the sixth.

Alvarez, who improved to 10-4, nearly matched his feat of earlier this season. On June 6, the southpaw faced the minimum of 21 batters and posted a career-high nine strikeouts while leading Pawtucket to a 3-0 victory over Richmond. In that seven-inning outing, Alvarez allowed only one hit -- a single in the fourth inning -- but he picked the runner off first.

The lefty thought he was even more effective yesterday.

"This one, I think, I was a little more dominant," he said. "I didn't give up a hit until the sixth."

He sat for a while in the bottom of the fifth as the PawSox scored five runs on five hits as nine batters came to the plate for a 7-0 advantage. Alvarez said the long half-inning didn't affect him too much because when he came out for the top of the sixth he went right back to work attacking the hitters. But DePastino, a former PawSox catcher, lined a single up the middle in the sixth.

"Oh, well," said Alvarez. "It happens."

DePastino, who took two foul balls off his hand earlier in the game, was behind in the count, 0-and-1. Alvarez left the next pitch up a bit, and the Syracuse catcher put a good swing on it and lined a shot off the top of Alvarez's glove. PawSox second baseman Luis Figueroa nearly made the play, but couldn't quite come up with the ball.

So the bid for a perfect game ended.

"I try not to get too giddy over that," said Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson of the no-hit bid. "It was a tremendous outing. He had command of everything, and with his pitch count (85) he could have finished, but I thought it was enough for him. He really did a nice job."

Reliever Tim Bausher finished up, allowing only one hit and strikig out three in two innings.

"He commanded both sides of the plate," said Shawn Wooten, Alvarez's batterymate. "On top of that, he threw every single pitch in its location, and when you can do that, it makes it really tough for the opponent to have some good at-bats. They don't know what is coming, and when."

Alvarez is effective with both his breaking ball and change-up deep into counts. Plus, when he can command the inside of the plate, the opposition is usually off balance.

He credits his spot start for the Red Sox last season as the catalyst for his success this season. Even though he suffered the loss to the Baltimore Orioles in his major-league debut, the performance made him a more confident pitcher this season.

"I pitched up there and I want to get back," Alvarez said. "I'm a little bit hungry, and I'm on this tear, and I want to keep it going. I want to keep winning and not lose and show [Boston] that during the second half of the season I can still turn it on and really pitch.

"My confidence level has gone up a lot since last year," he added. "I'm able to go out there and throw strikes. I just have more confidence in my pitches."

It showed yesterday.