Sox Stonewall Winston-Salem 6-2 Friday

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (June 9, 2017) - The Salem Red Sox benefited from a terrific return start by 19-year-old righty Roniel Raudes, picking up their fourth straight victory as they topped the Winston-Salem Dash 6-2 Thursday night at BB&T Ballpark.
Raudes (W, 2-2) tossed five efficient and effective innings for the Sox (38-23), earning his second win of the season in his return from the disabled list. The Dash (19-42) mustered their two runs on a pair of solo homers, and never had more than one runner on base at a time. The Sox are now a season-best 15 games above .500, and maintained a three-game edge against the Lynchburg Hillcats in the Northern Division standings for the first half.

Salem opened the scoring in the top of the second against Dash starting pitcher Zach Thompson. With two outs, Trenton Kemp earned a base on balls, and Jose Sermo lashed a hard grounder past first baseman Keon Barnum and into the right field corner. Kemp scored on the RBI double, making it 1-0 in favor of Salem.
The Sox added on in a big way in the top of the third. With one out, Tate Matheny drew a walk and stole second before Chad De La Guerra worked a walk of his own. The Sox executed a superb double steal, advancing Matheny and De La Guerra to second and third, and a wild pitch by Thompson brought Matheny home, with De La Guerra scooting to third base. Michael Chavis hit a sharp grounder up the left field line for an RBI double, scoring De La Guerra. Josh Ockimey worked a walk of his own, and Mike Meyers singled through the right side to plate Chavis and move Ockimey to third base. Trenton Kemp hit a nubber up the third base line for an infield single, allowing Ockimey to score and extend Salem's lead to 5-0.
Winston-Salem got on the board in the bottom of the third against Raudes. Landon Lassiter led off the inning, and hit the first pitch he received way up the left field berm for a solo homer, trimming Salem's lead to 5-1.
The Sox tacked on another run in the top of the sixth against Dash reliever Kelvis Valerio. Kemp led off with a single and moved to second on a soft groundout by Sermo. Austin Rei flew out to left, but Jeremy Rivera lined a double into the gap in right-center field, scoring Kemp and running the lead to 6-1. Winston-Salem earned that run right back in the bottom of the sixth against new Sox reliever Daniel McGrath (S, 1), who served up a solo homer to Zack Collins to cut the margin to 6-2 in favor of the Sox. That was as close as the Dash would get, and Salem was able to roll out with the victory.
Raudes got the win with five strong innings, surrendering one run on three hits while fanning four. McGrath earned the save in his second career relief appearance, and first since August 11, 2013, for the Lowell Spinners; he allowed one run on four hits and fanned three in four innings.
The Sox will to make it five in a row Saturday night with righty Mike Shawaryn on the hill for Salem against Dash righty Brannon Easterling. First pitch from BB&T Ballpark is set for 6:30 p.m., and Ben Gellman's pregame show starts at 6:15 on the Red Sox Radio Network.
 
The Carolina League All-Star Game returns to Salem on Tuesday, June 20 at Haley Toyota Field. As part of a celebration of 50 years of Carolina League baseball in the Roanoke Valley, the Red Sox will host a skills competition on Monday, June 19. The skills competition will take place at historic Kiwanis Field, the original home of Carolina League baseball in Salem. All 2017 Salem Red Sox season ticket holders will have tickets to the skills competition and the All-Star Classic at Haley Toyota Field included in their ticket package.