HIGHLIGHTS: Pawtucket took advantage of the windy conditions at McCoy Stadium last night and produced four homers en route to victory. The PawSox’ Jeff Bailey hit two homers while Jed Lowrie and Jonathan Van Every contributed one each. Bailey collected five RBI with his two round-trippers. Lowrie added a two-run shot and Van Every blasted a three-run homer. Pawtucket starter Devern Hansack allowed five runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts to earn his first victory of the season.

KEY TO THE GAME: Because of the cold and windy conditions, the PawSox needed to score early and often. Pawtucket pushed across all nine runs in the first three innings, including a pair of homers from Bailey. The PawSox’ leadoff man hit a solo homer in the first and added a two-run shot in the third.

PROSPECT TO WATCH: Jed Lowrie. Now that the rookie shortstop is back with the PawSox after his 17-game major-league debut with Boston, he’ll be in the lineup every day as he continues to hone his skills. He went 2-for-3, including a two-run homer, single, two walks and a strikeout.

THEY SAID IT: “That ball was pretty well smoked,” said PawSox manager Ron Johnson, referring to Lowrie’s homer that cleared everything and landed in the parking lot behind left field. “He’s always kind of amazed me with how much power he can generate when you look at his body size (6 foot, 180 pounds). He’s not an extremely large, bulky guy, but he can put a charge into the ball from both sides of the plate.”

NOTES: The toughest job a manager has is to inform a player of his demotion or outright release. The best job a skipper has is to tell a player he’s getting a call to the big leagues. Johnson has done both plenty of times during his managerial career. While he was working for Double-A Portland in 2004, he had the privilege of telling a young pitcher named Abe Alvarez that he was heading to Boston to make his major-league debut. Well, on Sunday, Johnson had to tell that same pitcher he was being released.

UP NEXT: The PawSox completed their recent eight-game homestand with a 6-2 record against Durham and Norfolk, respectively, and now go on the road for eight games, in Buffalo and Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Pawtucket will send Kyle Snyder (1-1, 3.80 ERA) against the Bisons’ Brian Slocum (3-2, 3.62 ERA) tonight.

jmcdonal@projo.com