One down, 143 to go.

I had a terrific time calling last night’s PawSox win with Steve Hyder, but it feels great to get the first broadcast out of the way. As I prepare for game No. 2,  I’ll be taking a break from my pre-game prep for something you very well may want to join.

From noon-1:00 I’ll be talking Red Sox prospects with Grodon Edes on ESPNBoston.com. In what is being called “Red Sox Chat: Minor League Voices,” this event will take the form of an online chat where fans can give their two cents and ask questions. The rest of the “voices” include my great friend and “Voice of the Portland Sea Dogs,” Mike Antonellis, the play-by-play broadcaster for the High-A Salem Red Sox, Even Lepler, and Mike Andrews of SoxProspects.com

You can CLICK HERE to enter/read the chat. Who knows, if you ask a question and mention the blog, there might be some kind of prize.

PawSox Notebook

• The PawSox 4-2 win over Buffalo last night marks the club’s 7th consecutive Opening Day win – the longest in franchise history.

• 

  Ciriaco, who almost broke camp with the Red Sox, has a good chance of seeing Fenway park this year. (Kelly O'Connor)

  Second baseman Pedro Ciriaco had a strong PawSox debut going 4-of-5 with two RBIs. Who cares that only one of his hits left the infield. With his speed, he doesn’t have to hit ‘em quite as deep to reach safely. By the way, he was one of only two International League batters with four hits last night (Matt Carson of Rochester also had four).

• When Steve interviewed Pedro on the field following the game, I loved it when Ciriaco said “thank you” to the fans. It might not seem like much to the players, but that kind of gesture goes a long way these days.

• One game into the season and we’ve already seen outstanding defensive plays by the two guys who get hyped the most for their defense: Jose Iglesias and Che-Hsuan Lin. Jose made an outstanding line drive catch on a ball that, off the bat, I would have told you had a 100% chance of landing in left field. Lin, meanwhile, made a catch sliding forward and on his side on a ball that seem destined to be a bloop single in shallow center. These guys will be fun to watch.

• New Pawtucket right fielder Jason Repko showed nice speed and great hustle when he reached on an RBI infield single in the 5th. I had a chance to interview him at Media Day and really enjoyed our conversation.

Around the International League

• The new “Empire State Yankees” were almost no-hit last night by Lehigh Valley. If not for a Ray Krumi double in the 7th, it would have been all zeros for the club without a home this season.

• In his Triple-A debut, arguably baseball’s top-prospect Bryce Harper went 2-of-4 with a double against Rochester.

• Speaking of the Red Wings, former PawSox first baseman Aaron Bates had a nice Opening Day for the Twins’ Triple-A club, going 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored.

• One day into the season and we already have our first rain out (Charlotte and Norfolk), and our first extra inning game (Durham topped Gwinnett 4-3 in a 12-inning, 4:04 contest).

We hit the air tonight at 6:00 with the pre-game show. First pitch in the series finale with Buffalo is set for 6:15.

Talk with you then.

-AG

@aaronmgoldsmith
agoldsmith@pawsox.com