PAWTUCKET – Despite the rain-shortened 5-0 loss to Charlotte Thursday night, Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson believes that the PawSox have a chance to win almost every game because their pitching staff is so good.

He just hopes Pawtucket's bats will come alive soon.

The PawSox boast the second-best team ERA in the International League – 3.30.

"They've carried the club," Johnson said. "You couldn't ask for a better situation."

As good as Pawtucket's starting pitchers have been, it's its bullpen that Johnson has really been impressed with as of late.

"You bring guys in, and it has been guy after guy that has come in and put up zeros," Johnson said of the PawSox bullpen. "[Fernando] Cabrera has led it. You have to look at his 12-for-12 saves. That's very impressive and he got a late start because [Daniel] Bard was our guy early."

Cabrera has been mainly been a set-up man since being drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1999, but the PawSox decided to use him as a closer this year and he has excelled at his new role. Not only is he 12-for-12 on save opportunities, he owns an impressive 1.20 ERA in 30 innings of 22 relief appearances. His 12 saves are ranked second in the I.L.

"What I like about him for me in that role is he never backs down," Johnson said. "He's always trying to power the ball even when a runner gets on. He doesn't back down. You don't see him serve something up. He's going to go hard at you and see if you can beat him and that's good to see."

As for the rest of the players in Pawtucket's bullpen, Johnson said, "They are a very talented group. They are a very mature group. When you look at them, I think the guy I'm most impressed with and really, really excited about has been [Jose] Vaquedano from where he came from last year. He was a guy last year where you picked your spots to put him in the game and see how he goes and you would have to have other guys ready because you didn't get that sense he was going to roll. Right now he's [rolling]."

Vaquedano is 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA.

"His composure and mound presence is totally night and day from where he was last year," Johnson said.

Johnson also pointed out that Rocky Cherry (2-0, 1.44 ERA), Marcus McBeth (2-0, 1.82 ERA), Randor Bierd (0-0, 3.48 ERA), Billy Traber (4-3, 2.73 ERA), and Hunter Jones (0-2, 3.55 ERA) have also pitched well out of the bullpen.

"There's too many to really break down one guy," Johnson said. "That won't be fair to anybody. When you look at it as a whole, as a group…it has been good and thank god because we have had our struggles offensively. Those guys have really carried the club."

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Pawtucket is ranked last in team batting average (.233).

Thursday night's zero-hit outing was not a good indication, but the recent additions of Aaron Bates and Bubba Bell have provided a much-needed offensive spark, Johnson said.

"It's been a nice addition with those two young kids, Bates and Bell up from Double-A," Johnson said. "They both contributed immediately to the club offensively and defensively."

Bates hit .340 in Portland and led the Eastern League in hits, with 70, and runs, with 41. He had seven home runs and 39 RBI. That came after a 2008 season with the Sea Dogs in which he batted .276 and led his team in RBI (69) and hits (126).

Bell, meanwhile, had five home runs, 20 RBI, eight steals and a .275 average in 211 Double-A at-bats.

"They both earned the promotion with how they played in Double-A," Johnson said. "The kids are good players. I have been very impressed with the plan both of them take to the plate. They have knowledge of the strike zone. They've shown patience. They have done a good job of hitting at important times."

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The PawSox lead the league with nine shutout victories already this season. Five different PawSox pitchers have started games that finished as shutouts, including Clay Buchholz (5-0, 1.90 ERA), who started three of those games, Michael Bowden (3-3, 2.48 ERA) and Kris Johnson (2-6, 6.56 ERA), who each started two of those games, and Diasuke Matsuzaka and Charlie Zink (4-6, 4.02 ERA), who both started one of those games.

roblee@projo.com