WINSTON-SALEM, NC (Friday, April 20) - The Salem Red Sox finally got their offense clicking Friday night after a rough few days, rolling up a season-best 12 hits to rout the Winston-Salem Dash 10-3 at BB&T Ballpark.The Sox (9-7) drew nine walks for the second straight night and set a
WINSTON-SALEM, NC (Friday, April 20) - The Salem Red Sox finally got their offense clicking Friday night after a rough few days, rolling up a season-best 12 hits to rout the Winston-Salem Dash 10-3 at BB&T Ballpark.
The Sox (9-7) drew nine walks for the second straight night and set a new season high with 21 total bases en route to the victory. Winston-Salem (9-7) plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth but were not able to overcome the huge lead the Sox had built. With the Potomac Nationals losing to the Lynchburg Hillcats, Salem took back a share of first place in the Northern Division of the Carolina League.
Salem struck first in the top of the third against Dash starter Jimmy Lambert (L, 1-2), who surrendered a leadoff double to Kyri Washington to begin the inning. Lambert fanned Trenton Kemp for the first out, but Santiago Espinal ripped a double into the left-center field gap to plate Washington. Brett Netzer followed that by knocking a single through the right side, allowing Espinal to race home and score, making it a 2-0 game.
The Dash got on the board in the bottom of the inning against Salem starting pitcher Bryan Mata, who gave up back-to-back outs with one away to Luis Alexander Basabe and Blake Rutherford before hitting Micker Adolfo to load the bases. Gavin Sheets hit a grounder to first that Jerry Downs whipped to second for one out, but Sheets was able to beat the return throw from second, allowing Basabe to score on the fielder's choice and trim the lead to 2-1.
The Sox expanded their lead in the top of the fourth. On a 1-0 fastball, Jerry Downs took a mighty hack and sent the ball sailing over the right field fence for a solo homer, his first of 2018. Tyler Hill scratched a single through the middle, and Jhon Nunez dropped one into shallow left to put runners at first and second. Ryan Scott laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, and Washington delivered, lacing a single through the middle to score both runners and make it a 5-1 lead for Salem.
Salem added on in the top of the sixth inning against reliever Blake Hickman. Washington earned a one-out walk from Hickman, and Kemp hit a fly to right that Basabe dove for but missed. The ball rolled to the wall, and Washington scored on Kemp's RBI triple to give Salem a 6-1 edge.
The Sox tacked on some more runs in the top of the eighth. Dash reliever Danny Dopico issued consecutive walks to Nunez and Scott before fanning Washington for the first out. Dopico then walked Kemp to load the bases for Espinal, who clicked a single into the left-center field gap to score Nunez and Scott. Netzer flew out to center, but Bobby Dalbec lashed a double to deep center to score Kemp and Espinal, running the lead to 10-1.
The Dash got a little closer in the bottom of the ninth on back-to-back triples by Joel Booker and Basabe off reliever Daniel Gonzalez (W, 2-0). With two outs, Rutherford hit a bouncer that Espinal muffed at short, allowing Basabe to score and trim it to 10-3. Algenis Martinez entered from the pen and struck out Adolfo to end the game.
Mata gave up a run on one hit and four walks over 4.1 innings, striking out five batters, hitting two batters and firing a wild pitch. Gonzalez dealt a season-high 4.2 innings out of the bullpen, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and whiffing six. Martinez fanned the only batter he faced to lock down the victory for Salem.
The Sox will try to keep the good vibes going Saturday night, with righty Roniel Raudes taking the ball for Salem against Dash righty Dane Dunning. First pitch from BB&T Ballpark is at 6:00 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Red Sox radio network.
