SALEM, VA - Leugim Castillo went 2-for-4 with a RBI double and starter Scotty Sunitsch struck out six over five scoreless innings, but Salem's Triston Casas hit a three-run homer in the sixth as the Red Sox defeated the Mudcats 3-1 in Carolina's final game of the 2019 season on
SALEM, VA - Leugim Castillo went 2-for-4 with a RBI double and starter Scotty Sunitsch struck out six over five scoreless innings, but Salem's Triston Casas hit a three-run homer in the sixth as the Red Sox defeated the Mudcats 3-1 in Carolina's final game of the 2019 season on Monday afternoon at Haley Toyota Field in Salem.
Salem (42-28, 67-70) broke what was a scoreless tie with Casas' homer in the sixth while taking a 3-0 lead on reliever Matt Hardy and the Mudcats (26-44, 65-74). Carolina came back with a RBI double from Castillo in the seventh, but ended up leaving two men on in the ninth while falling 3-1 in the finale of the four game series. The loss was Carolina's fifth straight and clinched a series sweep for the Red Sox.
Hardy (L, 7-4, 3.32) took the loss for Carolina after allowing the tie-breaking homer in the sixth. The home run came with two outs in the inning and put the Red Sox up for good. Hardy ended working both the sixth and seventh innings and allowed three runs, three hits and a walk in his final outing of the season.
Sunitsch started for the Mudcats and pitched through five scoreless frames before leaving the game. Sunitsch also struck out six, walked one and allowed one hit while reaching 77 pitches (54 strikes) for Carolina.
Alex Scherff started for the Red Sox and picked up the win while allowing a run and five hits over six and 1/3 innings. Scherff (W, 1-0, 1.42) allowed Castillo's RBI double in the seventh, but allowed just the one run in the game while walking two and striking out three.
Castillo's RBI double scored Carolina's only run and knocked Scherff out of the game in the seventh. The double scored Wes Rogers from first after he had walked one batter earlier in the inning. Castillo also singled in the second and went 2-for-4 with a RBI in the game. Brice Turang, Pat McInerney and Rogers each went 1-for-3 in the game; Zach Clark went 1-for-4.
Scherff was later followed by relievers Joan Martinez and Rio Gomez who earned a hold and save respectively. Martinez (H, 3) struck out two over an inning and 2/3 scoreless. Gomez (S, 2) allowed a hit, walked one and struck out one while leaving two men on in the ninth.
Michael Petersen worked the eighth for the Mudcats and pitched a scoreless frame with a hit and a strikeout.
Casas was 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI for the Red Sox in their sweep clinching victory. Elih Marrero went 2-for-3 with a double and Tanner Nishioka also went 2-for-3 for Salem.
The loss came in Carolina's final game of the season and was their fifth straight. The Mudcats finished their final road trip at 0-4 and fell to 5-9 in sweeps,18-19-5 overall in series played and 65-74 overall for the season.
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