Owens tosses four hitless frames in Double-A start

Left-hander Henry Owens, the Red Sox's No. 1 prospect, threw four hitless innings for Double-A Portland on Wednesday, but a high pitch count ended his night early. With Owens out of the game, New Britain scored four unanswered runs off Portland's bullpen and won, 4-3, in walk-off fashion.

Owens, ranked No. 27 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, struck out eight batters and walked five in four scoreless innings. He threw 87 pitches, prompting his quick exit from the game.

Right-hander Noe Ramirez relieved Owens and gave up a hit with two outs in the fifth inning, ending the no-hit bid.

Owens took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start, only to see it get broken up with one out. He walked five batters in that game as well, but worked more efficiently, throwing 96 pitches in 7 2/3 innings. He also threw a six-inning no-hitter on Opening Day in a game that was shortened by rain.

In eight starts this season, Owens has a 3.30 ERA. The 21-year old has struck out 49 batters and walked 23 in 46 1/3 innings.