RiverDogs Finish First Road Series by Shutting Out Salem
The Charleston RiverDogs put an exclamation point on theri first road series of the season, shutting out the Salem Red Sox 9-0 at Haley Toyota Field on Sunday evening. The victory was the second shutout of the season for the RiverDogs pitching staff. The RiverDogs won five of the six
The Charleston RiverDogs put an exclamation point on theri first road series of the season, shutting out the Salem Red Sox 9-0 at Haley Toyota Field on Sunday evening. The victory was the second shutout of the season for the RiverDogs pitching staff. The RiverDogs won five of the six games in the set.
In scheduled short outings, starter JJ Goss and Victor Munoz combined to blank Salem (8-7) for 5.0 innings. Goss retired all six batters that he faced, while striking out two. Munoz worked 3.0 innings and allowed three hits but induced a big double play in the fourth inning to avoid damage. Over Galue covered the sixth and seventh stanzas, stranding two runners in each inning. Kyle Whitten polished off the contest with a stress-free eighth and ninth.
In a game that was hitless into the fourth inning, the RiverDogs (10-5) scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to take the lead. The fourth inning began with a groundball double down the third base line from off the bat of Carson Williams. The left fielder, Kier Meredith, misplayed the ball for an error, allowing Williams to race to third. Salem starter Juan Encarnacion rebounded to strike out Dru Baker, but Willy Vasquez followed with a sacrifice fly to give Charleston a 1-0 advantage.
Williams was again in the mix during the fifth inning. With one out, Jelfry Marte pounded a double to the warning track in right-center to move into scoring position. Two batters later, Williams lined another double down the left field line to double the lead.
The RiverDogs pulled away with a big seventh inning. Luis Leon started the inning with a double but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. Gionti Turner and Shane Sasaki followed with singles and, when Sasaki stole second, two runners were in scoring position. Eddinson Paulino mishandled Williams chopper to short allowing the first run of the frame to score. The bases were loaded when Dru Baker was hit by a pitch from Miguel Suero. Vasquez capitalized by driving a three-run triple over the head of Eduardo Lopez in center to make it 6-0. The final of the five runs scored by the RiverDogs came courtesy of Mason Auer’s RBI groundout.
Not quite finished at the plate, Baker entered his final at-bat in the ninth inning without a hit. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his RBI streak to eight games with a no-doubt home run over the left field wall to drive in the final two runs for the visitors.
Williams led the RiverDogs with a 2-4 day at the plate that featured a pair of doubles and two runs batted in. The 18-year-old shortstop has multiple hits in seven consecutive games. Marte and Leon extended hitting streaks of their own to eight games while Vasquez drove in four runs on the night.
The RiverDogs will take Monday off before continuing their road trip with the first of six games on Tuesday at Fredericksburg. The opening game is scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m. LHP Antonio Jimenez (0-1, 3.38) will start for the RiverDogs against FredNats RHP Bryan Caceres (1-1, 7.00).
Single-game tickets are available for all RiverDogs home games at riverdogs.com. RiverDogs season tickets, flexible ticket plans, and group tickets, including options to the Segra Club at Riley Park, are available at riverdogs.com/tickets or by contacting the RiverDogs front office at 843-577-3647 (DOGS).