Michael Bowden pitched Thursday night in front of a nearly-full Hadlock Field crowd, which included Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. Bowden got the win, even though he said he didn't have his A game (5 2/3, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

Epstein later sent a email, saying that Bowden is "on a mission to become a difference-making big league starter and I wouldn't bet against him."

Read more about the game and more Epstein comments in the
Press Herald story.

Bowden is also the subject of stories in the Boston's papers, by the Globe's Amalie Benjamin and the Herald's Michael Silverman.

Benjamin was at Hadlock Thursday night. She also has an fine story on the difficulty in finding and developing premium catcher. Portland's Mark Wagner is featured.

In Pawtucket, old friend Bryan Pritz went 3-4 and is going strong since coming off the DL on June 10 (9-28, .321) ... Devern Hansack had a good start (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K), but reliever Lincoln Holdzkom (.6.85 ERA) had another rough outing (1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 0 K).

In Portland, two other prospects got to show Epstein a little of their game. Bubba Bell (3-5, 3 RBI) is now batting .297; Wagner (2 home runs, 4 RBI) is hitting .267.

In Lancaster, touted shortstop Argenis Diaz has struggled at times (.257), but he went 2-for-4 Thursday, as did third baseman Jorge Jimenez (.351) ... Bryce Cox pitched two hitless innings.

Shortstop Ryan Dent, 19, a sandwich round draft pick in 2007, went 3-for-4 for Lowell, with two home runs ... Carlos Fernandez-Oliva also went 2-for-4 ... reliever Stephen Fife, the recent third round pick out of Utah, pitched two innings (2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) ... According to soxprospects.com, Fife (drafted 85th overall) signed for 464,000 ... according to Baseballamerica, Boston's other third-round pick, reliever Kyle Weiland (108th overall) of Notre Dame, signed for $322,000.

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