Winston blasts Salem to begin second half

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (June 19, 2014) - Winston-Salem clubbed a season-high four home runs, two of which came from Omar Narvaez in his Dash debut, in its 12-4 victory over the Salem Red Sox at BB&T Ballpark on Thursday night.

Narvaez, who joined the Dash from Low-A Kannapolis on Wednesday, launched his first homer in the third inning against Salem starter Pat Light (1-3), a three-run shot to right field that gave Winston-Salem (1-0, 31-39) a 6-0 lead at the time.

The 22-year-old drilled his second long ball of the contest in the seventh inning, a solo blast over the right field bleachers. It was the first multi-home run game of Narvaez's career and only his fourth in 261 career Minor League contests.

The Dash started their offensive outburst in the first inning when Tim Anderson thumped a Light fastball over the left field fence for his fifth dinger of the year, staking Winston-Salem to a 1-0 advantage.

The home team strung together five straight singles in the bottom of the second inning to stretch their lead. Keon Barnum, Narvaez and Justin Jirschele loaded the bases with hits. Adam Heisler guided a single through the right side to plate Barnum, then Anderson ripped a base hit to right field to score Narvaez and give the Dash a 3-0 cushion.

Salem (0-1, 33-36) finally broke through against Dash starter Tony Bucciferro (5-5) in the fourth inning. Matty Johnson reached second when a fly ball tipped off the glove of left fielder Courtney Hawkins and scored on Mike Miller's single to right field. Miller later came home when Joey DeMichele booted Jantzen Witte's ground ball, cutting the deficit to 6-2.

Hawkins supplied some more power for Winston-Salem in the bottom of the fourth. The 20-year-old crushed a two-run homer for his team-leading 11th of the season, pushing the Dash to an 8-2 lead.

Winston-Salem put the game out of reach in the sixth inning against Red Sox reliever Kyle Kraus. Heisler doubled and advanced to third on Anderson's third hit of the game, a single. Jacob May tripled over left fielder Ryan Dent, who tripped as he tried to chase down the ball to score Heisler and Anderson on the play. One batter later, May, who now boasts an 11-game hitting streak, strotted home on a Hawkins RBI single to give the Dash an 11-2 edge.

Bucciferro kept Salem's bats at bay, allowing just two runs (zero earned) and three hits in six innings while striking out eight. Sean Hagan, Euclides Leyer and Jose Bautista closed out the 12-4 Winston-Salem win.

The Dash continue the three-game series against Salem on Friday night. Winston-Salem has yet to announce a starter for the contest, while Salem will throw left-hander Corey Littrell (3-3, 4.50 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and a fireworks show will follow the game, presented by Herrera Vineyards. For tickets, go to wsdash.com or call (336) 714-2287.

If you can't make it to BB&T Ballpark, you can follow all the action on wsdash.com/broadcast, beginning with the Pregame Dash at 6:45.