PAWSOX 6, LEHIGH VALLEY 2

The highlights: Hot hitting Chris Carter delivered the key hit of the game for Pawtucket an opposite field two-run double in the top of the fifth. It came after Carter fell behind 0-and-2, when he served a Carlos Carrasco curveball into the left field corner. Carter has a five-game hitting streak, with seven hits in his last three games. Remarkably, six of those hits have come with two strikes on Carter.

Keys to the game: Free passes. Pawtucket scored six runs off LV starter Carlos Carrasco, with the first five of those runners reaching on walks. For good measure, both of the IronPigs runs came after walks by PawSox starter Clay Buchholz. The teams received a total of 15 walks, 11 of them taken by PawSox batters.

Prospect watch: He has a big league no-hitter to his credit, a World Series ring for his finger, and has been on the tongues of Red Sox fans for the past four seasons. So, it's easy to forget that Buchholz (7-1) is still just 24, and remains an elite Major League prospect. Against the IronPigs, Buchholz applied a little more luster to his glitzy reputation. Buchholz scattered four hits, while racking up four strikeouts (three of which came in the first inning). He also walked four.

Odds and ends: The IronPigs welcomed the one millionth fan to pass through the gates of Coca Cola Park, which opened in 2008 when the franchise moved from Ottawa . . . The Pigs' line up was bolstered by National League All-Star LF Raul Ibanez, who was sent here on a rehab assignment (groin strain) by the parent Philadelphia Phillies . . . While on the subject of rehabs, it was the pair of "drain outs" in Scranton that prompted Boston's transfer of rehabbing SS Jed Lowrie from Pawtucket to Double-A Portland. So it was with small irony that while the PawSox played Tuesday, Lowrie and his sore wrist sat idly while Portland's tilt with New Hampshire was rained out.

They said it: "I know I could strike out. But I want to get a hit, so I stay relaxed. I'm going to fight and do everything I can to get that ball to fall and reach base safely," said Carter, commenting on his recent two-strike hitting prowess.

"He throws the ball really well. I faced him last year when he was with Boston. He's got great stuff," said Ibanez, who went 1-for-2 with a walk against Buchholz.

Next up: The PawSox will close out their five-day Pennsylvania trip tonight (7:05 p.m.), when LHP Kris Johnson (3-8, 5.86) will take on Pigs' RHP Drew Carpenter (7-2, 3.06).