Hillcats Hold Sox in Check 4-1 Saturday

Baldwin Averts Shutout with RBI Double

Roldani Baldwin crushed a two-run homer for Salem's offensive highlight of the night. (John Wacher)

By Ben Gellman

June 16, 2018

LYNCHBURG, VA (Saturday, June 16) - The Salem Red Sox saw their bats go silent Saturday night, as they only accrued three hits and only pushed a run across the plate with two outs in the ninth in a 4-1 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats at Calvin Falwell Field.Salem (31-36)

LYNCHBURG, VA (Saturday, June 16) - The Salem Red Sox saw their bats go silent Saturday night, as they only accrued three hits and only pushed a run across the plate with two outs in the ninth in a 4-1 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats at Calvin Falwell Field.
Salem (31-36) had only seven baserunners in the ballgame, and had only one extra-base hit as they took their second consecutive loss. Lynchburg (29-37) rolled up 11 hits in the ballgame, although they went a shocking 0-12 with runners in scoring position.

Neither team could score until the bottom of the fifth, when Lynchburg finally got to Salem starter Jake Thompson (L, 3-5). Alexis Pantoja led off the inning with a single, and Conner Capel homered over the right field wall to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
The Hillcats doubled their lead in the bottom of the seventh against Salem reliever Algenis Martinez, who surrendered a two-out single to Trenton Brooks. Li-Jen Chu fell behind 0-2 on a pair of sliders, but Martinez threw up a hanging slider, and Chu whacked it over the left-field fence for a two-run dinger to run the advantage to 4-0.
After being held scoreless by starter Sam Hentges (W, 4-6) and reliever Billy Strode (H, 3), Salem averted the shutout in the ninth against reliever James Karinchak. Tyler Hill earned a leadoff walk before pilfering both second and third on stolen bases, and Roldani Baldwin battered a double to left to plate Baldwin before Bobby Dalbec fanned to end the ballgame.
Thompson was touched up for two runs on six hits and three walks in 4.1 innings, fanning four. Martinez matched a season-high with 3.2 frames of relief, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk while whiffing one.
The Sox will try to salvage a series split and close the first half with a win Sunday afternoon, with righty Bryan Mata taking the ball for Salem against Lynchburg southpaw Tanner Tully. First pitch at Calvin Falwell Field is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 1:45 p.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.