PAWTUCKET — The face was unfamiliar, at least in the Pawtucket Red Sox’ clubhouse.

It belonged to Beau Vaughan, the newest member of the PawSox, a right-hander reliever called up yesterday from Double-A Portland.

“It’s Friday and I happen to be in Pawtucket,” said Vaughan with a shrug.

Despite the seeming nonchalance at being in Triple A, Vaughan’s trip through the Red Sox’ minor-league chain wasn’t the quickest.

Vaughan, a third-round pick in the 2003 draft after pitching at Arizona State, made his Triple-A debut last night at the age of 27 and was the winning pitcher. If his numbers at Portland are any indication, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder may have found his stride. And his arm slot.

Since dropping down from a three-quarters delivery to more of a sidearm motion, Vaughan has excelled coming out of the Sea Dogs’ bullpen. He arrived at McCoy Stadium yesterday boasting a 2-1 record, 16 saves and a 2.12 earned-run average with 55 strikeouts and only 34 hits allowed in 46 2/3 innings.

He may not be the first member of the PawSox called on for a save because Chris Smith (13 saves) has returned from Boston and Hunter Jones has notched five. But Vaughan gives Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson another option.

“I gave up two or three miles in velocity but added movement,” said Vaughan of his new motion. “I messed around with it on the side, playing catch. I felt more comfortable, so I gave it a try (in May). The results have been good so I stuck with it. I can see the fastball sinking and running. I can throw it for a strike and the fastball is running enough that it’s a tough pitch to hit, so I’ll just roll with that.”

Vaughan convinced Portland pitching coach Mike Cather that using a sidearm delivery could work, and Cather was supportive.

In his own mind, a late May appearance against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats helped Vaughan decide to stick with his new approach.

Brought in with the bases loaded and none out in the seventh inning of a 14-10 game in a high-scoring series, Vaughan faced highly touted power prospect Travis Snider. Snider ripped a pitch off the inside the Vaughan’s left leg, but Vaughan picked up the ball, started a home-to-first double play and blanked the Fisher Cats the rest of the way, racking up five whiffs along the way.

“It’s not that a line drive like that gives you confidence, but I didn’t give up any runs so I started to feel like this stuff plays,” said Vaughan of his reinvented mechanics.

There were many times in his career, though, that the Arizona native entertained the notion of packing it in.

“I had a bad year in ’05 and was asking myself, what am I doing?” said Vaughan, who was converted from a starter to a full-time reliever in 2006.

“Everyone has a different journey. It’s part of the challenge. You can’t have success without failure,” he said philosophically of his struggles through the system.

His parents received more than one soul-searching question from their son.

“It was almost a weekly occurrence,” said Vaughan. “You get to be 27, the pay in the minor leagues is not good. Will I wake up at 30 and have nothing to show for this but debt? But as long as I’ve got the body and I’m young enough — emphasis on ‘enough’ because I’m not young — and I can still do it, so why not? I love to compete and this is the best forum to compete in.”

skrasner@projo.com