Lambert guides Dash to 4-1 win in season finale

Righty spins seven shutout innings; Dash finish 56-84

Jimmy Lambert finishes 2017 with 12 wins, good for the most among White Sox farmhands. (James Geiser/Winston-Salem Dash)

September 4, 2017

SALEM, Va. (Sept. 4, 2017) - Thanks to a strong effort from Dash starter Jimmy Lambert, Winston-Salem wrapped up its 2017 campaign with a 4-1 victory over the Salem Red Sox in the season finale on Monday afternoon at Haley Toyota Field. Lambert (5-4), who was making his 14th start at the High-A

SALEM, Va. (Sept. 4, 2017) - Thanks to a strong effort from Dash starter Jimmy Lambert, Winston-Salem wrapped up its 2017 campaign with a 4-1 victory over the Salem Red Sox in the season finale on Monday afternoon at Haley Toyota Field.
Lambert (5-4), who was making his 14th start at the High-A level, yielded just four hits while striking out six in seven shutout innings. Throughout his 97-pitch outing on Monday, the right-hander did not allow a Salem runner to reach third base. A fifth-round pick by the White Sox out of Fresno State, Lambert finishes the 2017 season with 12 combined wins between Low-A Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, which is the most among all White Sox farmhands this year.

The Dash (32-38, 56-84) broke a scoreless tie in the third against Red Sox starter Kyle Hart (2-3). After Daniel Gonzalez started the inning with a single, Sam Dexter grounded a single into right field to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Two batters later, Toby Thomas brought home Gonzalez on a sacrifice fly to center to put Winston-Salem ahead 1-0.
Following Lambert's stellar outing, Salem (33-37, 73-66) threatened against Louie Lechich by putting runners on first and second with one out in the eighth inning. But, after Mick VanVossen replaced Lechich and retired Jhon Nunez, Ryan Riga escaped the jam by getting Conrad Gregor to line out to left.
Winston-Salem busted the game wide open in the ninth against Red Sox reliever Harrison Cooney. Ti'Quan Forbes began the final inning of the year with a walk, and, with Jeff Gelalich batting, he moved to second via a throwing error by Cooney on a pickoff attempt. Gelalich followed with an RBI single to make it a 2-0 contest. Later in the inning, Bryant Flete and Thomas delivered bases-loaded, run-scoring singles to put the Dash up four.
Salem scored its lone run in the ninth on a Chris Madera RBI groundout, but Zach Thompson battled back to retire Bryan Hudson for the final out of the season.
Thanks to Monday's victory, the Dash end their season with 56 wins for a second straight year. However, because last year's club finished with one fewer loss, Winston-Salem clinched its worst campaign since 2002, when the Warthogs went 50-90. Also, for the second time in the Dash era (2009-present), Winston had the fewest wins of any team in the Carolina League. The only other time this occurred was when the Dash finished with a 61-78 record in 2014.
The 2018 Carolina League will begin on Thursday, April 5, and it will once again comprise of a 140-game slate. For offseason updates on the Dash, be sure to log on to wsdash.com or call (336) 714-2287.