PAWTUCKET –– The latest in what seems like a never-ending line of Red Sox pitching prospects will make his Triple-A debut tonight under highly unusual circumstances.

Adam Mills, only 15 months into his pro career, will get the start for Pawtucket as the PawSox play Game Three of the opening round against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at PNC Field in Moosic, Pa.

Mills makes only one promise –– that he will work quickly.

“I’m mostly a ground-ball pitcher, not many strikeouts,” Mills said. “I more have command stuff. I’m a control guy, keep the ball down. I don’t throw 95 (mph), but I’ve got movement on my pitches and I mix it up a lot.”

He works fast for a reason.

“It keeps the defense involved in the game. For a guy like me that uses the defense a lot, it’s kind of a key thing to do,” Mills said.

Mills, 23, who is from Maryland, has moved rapidly through the Boston system. The 6-foot, 195-pound right-hander was selected in the eighth round in last year’s draft. He pitched in the Atlantic 10, for Charlotte, where he was the school’s all-time victory leader with 30. He had a sensational senior season, with a 1.01 earned-run average and was one of the three finalists for the Roger Clemens Award as the top pitcher in college baseball.

He pitched in Lowell after signing. He began this year with Lancaster, in the Class-A California League. He went 7-4 and was promoted to Portland. He made 11 starts with the Seadogs. His record was unimpressive, at 0-5, but his numbers were solid, including a 4.00 ERA. He only allowed two home runs in 63 innings.

“It’s very unexpected,” he said of jumping three levels in one year. “I didn’t know what to expect. I assumed I’d start in Greenville (Boston’s lower Class A team), hopefully work hard and get to Lancaster. But I’d rather have it this way.”

Situational managing

Ron Johnson, the Pawtucket manager, had an interesting comment about how different playoff baseball has been the last two nights at McCoy.

It was different for Johnson in that he made more moves, using pinch-hitters, making lineup switches and, last night, using five pitchers in a low-scoring game.

“As you guys have seen, in the regular season I pretty much get them out there and let them go,” he said. “It is a little different in the playoffs.”

In a weird way, another change led to Pawtucket outfielder Jason Lane getting ejected in the first inning of the opener. Lane objected to a called third strike by umpire R.J. Thompson.

Lane discussed the call with Thompson for some time, not heatedly, but making the point that he was unhappy with the call. Lane began walking away and was halfway to the dugout when Thompson ejected him for getting in a final comment.

“I know none of these umpires want to throw anyone out in the playoffs,” Johnson said. The problem was that with a crowd of 3,191, 100 more than last night, McCoy was much quieter than it is in most games.

“Normally, guys can yell anything they want from the dugout because no one can hear them anyway,” Johnson said. In this case, Thompson heard Lane and ejected him.

A hot ticket

Pawtucket drew more fans than any team in the International League, but finished second in average attendance. How did that happen?

It was because the PawSox had one more home date than Louisville, which led in average attendance. Louisville drew 631,457 fans in 69 dates, an average of 9,152 per opening. Pawtucket drew 636,788 in 70 outings, an average of 9,097.

pkenyon@projo.com