Lavarnway swings into action with Pawtucket

So when he arrived Monday in Pawtucket to make his first start for the PawSox, Lavarnway had to borrow equipment. He wore a pair of cleats belonging to fellow catcher Luis Exposito, used the mitt of Jeff Cutler ( Hideki Okajima’s interpreter), and donned an extra set of catcher’s gear that was lying around the clubhouse.

“Fortunately, I had some extra bats sitting around in the locker room in Portland,’’ Lavarnway said.

The 23-year-old from Woodland Hills, Calif., who entered this season rated by Baseball America as the Red Sox top catching prospect, was promoted when catcher Mike McKenry was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lavarnway made an immediate impression in his Triple A debut. Against the Charlotte Knights, he caught righthanded starter Kyle Weiland, with whom he played last year in Portland, and went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles. He scored the PawSox’ only run in a 4-1 setback on Brent Dlugach’s single to right in the seventh inning.

Asked about Lavarnway’s debut, Pawtucket manager Arnie Beyeler jokingly tried to downplay his contributions.

“He was all right,’’ Beyeler said. “Hit one to the wall, hit a double down the left-field line, threw a runner out at second, blocked eight balls. Not a bad night.’’

Lavarnway, who didn’t start catching until his sophomore year at Yale, where he was the Ivy League’s career leader with 33 home runs and hit an NCAA-best .467 as a sophomore, was pleased he could step in and make his presence felt, offensively and defensively.

“It was definitely nice to get the first hit out of the way,’’ he said. “Sometimes that’s the toughest one. I’m definitely trying to change my reputation from a bat with no glove to a glove and a bat, both being equally helpful to the team.

“I’ve worked tirelessly on my defense, and I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come, and I’m going to continue to refine my skills and hopefully become a big league catcher.’’