Meyer duels Red Sox prospect into seventh

In a showdown of pitchers ranked on MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects list that lived up to its billing, Alex Meyer (No. 27) outdueled Allen Webster (No. 44) on Wednesday night. But once Meyer was out of the game for Triple-A Rochester, Pawtucket came back for a 3-1 victory.

Coming off his worst start of the young season, Meyer was at his best Wednesday. The Twins' No. 3 prospect matched his career high with 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He walked three batters and allowed three hits.

Meyer is at his best when he uses his power sinker and height to get batters to beat the ball into the ground. He has not done a great job of that this season and entered the night with a rate of 0.71 ground balls to fly balls. But Wednesday he was able to reverse that trend, creating six ground-ball outs to two flyouts.

While Meyer was superb, Webster nearly matched him. The No. 3 Red Sox prospect allowed just one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters and walked one.

Both starters were out of the game by the time it was decided in the eighth inning. Third baseman Garin Cecchini, the No. 5-rated Red Sox prospect and No. 55 overall prospect, gave Pawtucket the lead with a pinch-hit, two-run double and then came around to score an insurance run.