Pawtucket’s George Kottaras ended an 0-for-18 slump by mashing his ninth homer of the season, which cleared everything behind the right-field wall at McCoy Stadium.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

PAWTUCKET –– Someone asked PawSox catcher George Kottaras yesterday afternoon if he saw where his solo home run landed in the sixth inning of Pawtucket’s 11-5 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at McCoy Stadium.

He said he didn’t, but teammate Chris Carter quickly jumped into the conversation.

“It hasn’t landed, yet,” said Carter with a smile and wink.

Sir Isaac Newton might disagree. Still, the ball Kottaras hit was simply crushed as it cleared everything behind the right-field wall. As he rounded the bases any of the 8,780 fans in attendance could almost feel his sigh of relief.

The 25-year-old backstop entered yesterday’s game hitless in his last 18 at-bats. Actually, he only had two hits in his previous 38 at-bats for a lowly .053 average during that stretch. Before Kottaras entered his sixth-inning plate appearance yesterday, he was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and a walk.

He erased any doubts when he clubbed his ninth homer of the year and followed that with a single in his last at-bat for the day in the seventh inning.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride right now,” he said. “I had a good start and was hot for a little bit. I was playing really well and it came to a point where I couldn’t pull things together. I couldn’t string hits together, and then I slowly began having better at-bats. Things weren’t going my way, but that’s how the game goes. Hopefully I can build off these at-bats.”

During his recent skid, it was important for Kottaras not to let it affect the other work he was doing.

“The biggest thing was not to let my offense affect my defense,” he said. “I recognized things weren’t going my way on offense, but I still needed to be there for my pitchers and give them my 100 percent effort to help them succeed.”

Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson noticed, that despite Kottaras’ offensive struggles, the catcher was helping his battery mates.

When Johnson watches a game, he’ll concentrate on a catcher’s pitch selection. The manager will keep track of how many trips a catcher will make to the mound and how he reads a batter’s swing. Those things are just as important as a catcher’s offensive and defensive stats.

“That’s valuable stuff,” said Johnson. “He has really improved over the last year, as it should. He’s starting his second full year at Triple-A, and you can see it with [fellow catcher Dusty] Brown, too.”

Kottaras is in his second full season in the Red Sox organization after the club acquired him from San Diego on Sept. 5, 2006 in exchange for pitcher David Wells.

“He’s developed big-time,” said Johnson. “He has a way to go, as do all young players. He’s getting a really good feel for running a game.”

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein made an interesting statement during spring training. He said the organization has many promising pitching prospects, but he said he didn’t feel the organization had much depth at the catching position.

Kottaras has shown flashes of that ability that could get him to the majors, and those pitchers who are throwing to him on almost a daily basis have confidence in him.

“I’m confident in both our catchers,” PawSox pitcher Charlie Zink said. “I seem to always have the grip in my hand of the pitch they call, so we’re on the same page all the time.”

The biggest aspect of a catcher’s game management concentrates on the ability to run a game from behind the plate.

“That’s not always easy to do,” Johnson said. “I was most proud of him prior to hitting the homer. In his last game he went 0-for-4 with a walk, but he did a heck of a job behind the plate. To me, that’s what stands out. I see some real bright spots coming from George.”

jmcdonal@projo.com