Speed and power.
That was the combination the Pawtucket Red Sox used Thursday night to beat the Rochester Red Wings, 6-5, for their 11th win in their last 15 games.
Shortstop Jose Iglesias supplied the speed when he stole second and third base in the eighth inning and raced home on a wild pitch by Anthony Slama which snapped a 5-.5 tie.
The power was supplied by Ryan Lavarnway and Hector Luna, each of whom homered in the fifth inning.
Iglesias reached on a one-out walk, and after Matt Sheely popped out, stole second and third and then scored on the wild pitch.
The aggressive base running by Iglesias was, in a sense, un-Boston-like.
“You don’t like to steal third base with two outs (one of baseball’s cardinal rules is you don’t make the last out of an inning at third base) but we were in a situation where some balls were flying around and you’ve got a guy (Slama) that’s got a pretty good out pitch,” said PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler. “Maybe you take an out pitch away from him or roll the dice. You still need a hit to score the guy but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
“ ‘Iggy’ did a nice job of stealing second base. He got a good jump … he picked a good pitch. We try to let some of these guys be on their own. We’ve got some signs where we put them on their own. When they make good decisions they get to keep being on their own.
“The guys that can run, let them run,” continued Beyeler. “The guys that can bang you let them bang.”
Lavarnway has been “banging” Triple-A pitching since he was promoted from Portland on June 13.
So far he’s hit safely in 12 of 15 games at a .333 clip (20-for-60) with 11 runs, five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI.
Against Rochester, Lavarnway was 3-for-5 with two RBI. And his third hit, a broken-bat bloop single in the seventh, was an indication of how a batter knows he’s hitting in good luck.
“When you talk about good, young hitters, usually guys that have an idea of the strike zone and don’t chase a lot are pretty successful,” said Beyeler said. “He’s a guy where you look back at Kevin Youkilis, Freddy Sanchez, Jed Lowrie … some guys who’ve come through the system … whether they hit or don’t hit, they don’t get themselves out.
“Ryan has an idea of the strike zone. He doesn’t chase a lot. He’s not afraid to take a strike. He’s not afraid to hit with two strikes and above all he uses the whole field to hit. He’s a tough guy to get out and is a big, strong, dangerous guy.
“If you’re going to roll the dice and bet on some guys,” continued Beyeler, “you’re going to bet on some guys that have a good idea of the strike zone and swing the bat a little bit. He’s proven throughout that he can do that.”