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Hillcats Shut Out Red Sox, 4-0

Salem begins postseason play Wednesday night
September 5, 2016

LYNCHBURG, Va. (September 5, 2016) - The Salem Red Sox were blanked in their regular season finale by the Lynchburg Hillcats, 4-0 at Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium Monday afternoon. The Red Sox will begin postseason play Wednesday with game one of the South Division Championship Series at Myrtle Beach.

Lynchburg (84-56, 39-31) jumped on Salem starter Jeffry Fernandez in the bottom of the first inning, taking an early lead. A two-out, two-run double for Taylor Murphy highlighted the frame that saw the Hillcats open up a 4-0 advantage.

The Red Sox (87-52, 44-26) sputtered on offense against Hillcats starter Thomas Pannone, who only faced one over the minimum through the first three innings. The southpaw Pannone (3-0) tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and walking two.

Fernandez (2-1) tossed two innings before being replaced by Mario Alcantara, who struck out five in his two innings of relief. The bullpen day continued with Yankory Pimentel and Jamie Callahan tossing scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth.

Submarine pitcher Trevor Kelley made his Salem debut after being promoted from Low-A Greenville earlier in the day, and spun two perfect stanzas in the seventh and eighth innings.

The loss capped off a record-setting regular season for Salem, which set Red Sox-era records for road wins (41), home wins (46), first and second half wins (43 and 44, respectively), batting average (.274), runs (694), hits (1,279), triples (62), stolen bases (241), RBIs (625), sacrifice hits (40), sacrifice flies (53), and saves (42). The club's 87 wins tied the 1974 Salem Pirates for the most in franchise history.

The Red Sox take Tuesday off before beginning the South Division Championship Series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Wednesday evening. First pitch at TicketReturn.com Field is scheduled for 6:05 pm. Salem sends RHP Michael Kopech (4-1, 2.25) to the hill in Game One, while Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Trevor Clifton (7-7, 2.72). Follow along with the playoff action on the Salem Red Sox Baseball Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 5:45 pm.