Salem Nipped 5-4 Sunday by Blue Rocks

SALEM, VA (Sunday, June 3) - The Salem Red Sox got the tying run aboard in the eighth and ninth innings Sunday afternoon but fell just shy of tying the score, dropping a razor-thin 5-4 decision to the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Haley Toyota Field.
Salem (26-27) missed out on a chance to close the gap in the Northern Division standings, as Potomac. Wilmington (23-33) notched a series victory over the Sox in their last meeting before the All-Star Break. The Red Sox got plenty of production from the top third of their order, with Santiago Espinal, Brett Netzer and C.J. Chatham each rapping three hits.

The Sox struck immediately in the bottom of the first inning against Wilmington starter Gerson Garabito, as Espinal pounded a leadoff double to center before moving to third on a single to right by Netzer. Chatham laced a single through the right side, plating Espinal and putting the Sox up 1-0.
Wilmington responded in the top of the fourth against Salem hurler Roniel Raudes, who surrendered a leadoff single to Khalil Lee. Kort Peterson slashed a double to left, scoring Lee to tie the game. Raudes gave up a single to Xavier Fernández to put runners at the corners. Meibrys Viloria then belted a fastball over the wall in right for a three-run homer that gave Wilmington a 4-1 lead.
The Sox drew closer in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jordan Procyshen led off with a single through the middle, and moved to second when Espinal singled with one away. Netzer lined a single to left, loading the bases. Chatham came through with a hard grounder through the middle, plating Procyshen and Espinal and cutting the margin to 4-3.
The Blue Rocks added an insurance run in the top of the eighth against Red Sox reliever Jake Cosart. With one away, Peterson banged a double off the left field wall, and Viloria sliced an RBI single to left-center, scoring Peterson and making it a 5-3 lead for the visitors.
Salem inched closer in the bottom of the eighth against Wilmington reliever Josh Mitchell. Chatham led off the frame with a double, and Dalbec drew a walk behind him. Downs dropped a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners up to second and third. Tyler Hill hit a smash to third base, and Gabriel Cancel booted it into left field, bringing Chatham home to cut the lead to 5-4. However, Dalbec was tagged out when Trenton Kemp bounced back to Mitchell, and pinch hitter Roldani Baldwin bounced into an inning-ending fielder's choice against new reliever Bryan Brickhouse (S, 9). Espinal reached base with one out in the ninth inning, but Netzer and Chatham fanned to end the ballgame.
Raudes gave up four runs on six hits and a walk in six innings, whiffing two. Cosart surrendered a run on two hits and two walks in two innings while recording three strikeouts. Matthew Gorst fired a perfect inning of relief with one strikeout.
The Sox will look to take the series victory in the rubber match Sunday afternoon, with righty Roniel Raudes toeing the slab for the Sox against Wilmington right-hander Gerson Garabito. First pitch from Haley Toyota Field is at 4:05 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 3:45 p.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.