Barnes Shines, Shaw Goes Yard Twice in Split

Woodbridge, VA (June 9, 2012) - Matt Barnes and Matt Grace each delivered spectacular pitching performances for their respective teams in the front and back ends of Saturday's twin-bill, with the Sox shutting out the Nats 3-0 in the opener at Pfitzner Stadium before falling 6-1 in the nightcap. Barnes tossed seven scoreless innings for the first time in his career, dealing 96 pitches to complete the five-hit gem. In response, Grace needed 92 deliveries to stymie the Sox lineup in the second contest, surrendering just three hits, including a solo homer to Travis Shaw. Shaw belted a solo bomb in both games, giving him eight homers in the past two weeks and nine on the season.

In the opener, Salem struck early with Christian Vazquez launching a two-run double to the base of the wall in right-center field in the top of the second inning. Xander Bogaerts and Michael Almanzar both scored, providing Barnes some early run support in the form of a 2-0 lead.

The Nationals possessed baserunners in five of the seven innings against Barnes, moving a man as far as third base twice. But they went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded all eight runners in the ballgame.

Barnes dealt 65 of his 96 pitches for strikes, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out five in his seven shutout innings. The righthander entered the seventh with just 72 tosses, needing 24 in the final frame to close the deal. The Nationals loaded the bases with two outs on two singles and a walk, prompting a mound visit from skipper Billy McMillon. But the Salem Manager left Barnes in the ballgame, and Adrian Sanchez' chopped to third to leave the bags packed and conclude the complete game. Barnes improved to 4-1 with Salem and 6-1 on the year, lowering his Carolina League ERA to 1.32 and his overall ERA to 0.93.

The Sox' third run in the opening contest came from Shaw, who launched a solo bomb off Paul Applebee with two outs in the top of the fifth. Two-at-bats later, Shaw went deep a second time, taking Grace yard with two outs in the top of the first in the second game. But after Shaw's round-tripper, Grace did not allow another hit until the sixth inning.

Grace surrendered just three hits and one walk in his seven-inning retaliatory masterpiece, improving him to 3-6 on the season. The Nationals supported him with Chris Marrero's two-run homer off Manny Rivera in the first inning to assume a 2-1 lead. In the second, the Nationals scored three times despite not hitting the ball out of the infield. A leadoff walk was followed by three bunts, one which resulted in a sacrifice and an error and two more that resulted in infield singles. With a wild pitch and a second error mixed in, the Nationals pennied and nickeled their way to a 5-1 lead. In the fifth, Justin Bloxom's towering solo homer was the silver dollar that sent Potomac to a 6-1 advantage.

With Winston-Salem winning again over Wilmington, the Salem Sox have dropped to three games behind the first-place Dash with eight remaining, sinking Winston's magic number down to six.

The Salem Sox look to salvage the final game in Potomac on Sunday afternoon, a 1:05 first pitch that will pit Brandon Workman against Trevor Holder.