Sox Surge Within Half-Game of First Place

Salem, VA (June 6, 2012) - Miguel Celestino dealt six superb innings as the Salem Sox inched back within a half game of the first-place Winston-Salem Dash with Wednesday's 4-1 triumph at LewisGale Field. The righthander struck out six and limited the Dash to just four hits and one unearned run over six frames, the ninth time in his 11 starts that he has allowed two earned runs or fewer. Offensively, Travis Shaw's bases-loaded double drove in three runs to break a scoreless tie in the third inning, while Xander Bogaerts crushed his sixth homer of the season in the eighth to cap the Salem scoring.

Celestino struck out the side in the first and was perfect in half of his innings on the mound. Winston's lone tally came as a result of a passed ball in the fifth inning, when Daniel Wagner singled, moved to second on Adalberto Ibarra's passed ball, and scored on Juan Silverio's fielder's choice grounder to third. Celestino improved to 4-2 on the year and his ERA shrunk to 2.84.

Winston's Jon Bachanov faced the minimum through two innings, but Salem capitalized on Bachanov's erraticness in the third. A single, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with two outs, and Shaw squared up a 2-0 fastball and blasted it off the right-center field fence to clear the bases, giving Salem a 3-0 lead. With 41 RBI on the year, Shaw is second in the league, behind only Carolina's Jeremie Tice.

With two outs in the last of the eighth, Bogaerts eviscerated a fastball from Tarence Marin, sending a majestic solo homer over the left field fence. The round tripper gave Salem a 4-1 lead and gave Bogaerts his 32nd RBI of the season.

Andrew Jones followed Celestino with a pair of scoreless innings, while Mike Olmsted recorded his 11th save by shutting down the Dash in the ninth. Both Jones and Olmsted struck out two Winston hitters apiece as the Sox improved to 33-24, just a half game behind the 34-24 Dash.

Salem and Winston meet for the final time in the first half on Thursday night, with Ryan Pressly scheduled to face Jake Petricka. First pitch in this battle for first place is slated for 7:05.