Gold Turns in Career Day as Keys Top Salem

FREDERICK, Md.-Tad Gold clubbed his first professional home run, and tallied a career-high three RBIs as the Frederick Keys claimed a 6-2 win over the Salem Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Nymeo Field. The victory snapped a three-game slide by the orange and black. On the mound, David Hess picked up his second win since the all-star break, tossing five innings of one-run baseball.

Hess (4-4) and Ty Buttrey combined to allow two hits over the first three innings, before Frederick got to Salem's starter in the fourth. Adrian Marin opened up the inning with a double, advanced to third on a single by Chance Sisco and scored on a fielder's choice by Jeff Kemp. From there, base hits by Brenden Webb and Wynston Sawyer made it a 2-0 ballgame.

Buttrey (7-3) surrendered a season-high six runs (five earned) to go along with a career-high 10 hits, as the Keys tagged the right-hander for four more runs in the following two frames. Bringing home an unearned marker in the fifth, the Keys benefited from an error by shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin and two wild pitches by Buttrey, as Marin singled past a drawn-in infield.

One inning later, Gold made his presence felt with one swing. With no home runs in his previous 25 professional games, the Massachusetts native clocked a three-run blast over the rightfield wall to put the Keys up 6-1. Gold finished the game 2-for-4, while he is 4-for-8 with a home run, a double and three RBIs in his first two Carolina League games.

Hess faced one over the minimum through his first four innings, while he used a double play ball to work around a runner at third in the fifth. In the sixth though, Salem picked up a run as two walks, and a single by Lin prompted a pitching change. Jon Keller limited the damage to just one run though. Over five-plus innings, Hess gave up a run on four hits, walked two and struck out four. Meanwhile, the sixth inning run wrapped up a 13-inning scoreless streak.

Keller and Matt Taylor wrapped things up, giving up just one run in the final three innings. Taylor picked up his second save of the year, tossing 1.1 stanzas of scoreless baseball.  

The Keys and the Red Sox conclude their series on Monday night at Nymeo Field. Left-hander Ariel Miranda (0-1, 7.36) gets the ball for the Keys and will be opposed by Sox southpaw Trey Ball (6-7, 3.68). First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m and the broadcast can be heard on 1450 AM The Source and frederickkeys.com. For tickets, fans can contact the Keys at 301-815-9939 or visit frederickkeys.com.