Red Sox season ends on 6-3 loss

WILMINGTON, Delaware (September 9, 2019) - The Salem Red Sox season drew to a close with a 6-3 loss to the Wilmington Blue Rocks in Game Five of the Carolina League North Division Championship Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium.

How it Happened
* Wilmington delivered a solo shot in the third and two-run bomb in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead.
* Keith Curcio and Kole Cottam knocked consecutive doubles in the sixth inning to break up the shutout and cut the lead 3-1.
* The Blue Rocks re-claimed the difference 4-1 with an RBI double by Michael Gigliotti in the seventh.
* Salem rallied the bases loaded in the eighth with walks from Victor Acosta, Kole Cottam and Triston Casas. Tyler Esplin reached safely as Wilmington botched a fielder's choice to cut the lead in half. Jerry Downs knocked a pinch-hit single and the Sox pulled within one run, 4-3.
* Once again, Wilmington rallied with an RBI single and sacrifice bunt to push away 6-3 in the bottom of the frame.
* Salem rallied in the ninth, Acosta, Cottam and Casas all connected for singles to load the bases before Wilmington drew the final out to advance to the Mills Cup Championship.
Standout Sox
Victor Acosta: .274 BA, 28 multi-hit G / 104 G
* Garrett Benge: .253 BA, 19 multi-hit G, 10 multi-RBI G / 99 G
* Triston Casas: .429 BA, 8-for-23, 4 RBI, R, HR, 2 2B / 7 G
* Pedro Castellanos: Carolina League Midseason All-Star, Carolina League Player of the Week 6/22-28, Boston's July Hitter of the Month, .276 BA, 71 RBI, 9 HR, 123 H / 117 G
* Edgar Corcino: .315 BA, 46 RBI, 9 HR, 69 H / 68 G
* Kole Cottam: .256 BA, 6-for-16, 2 RBI, 3 2B in postseason / 16 G
* Keith Curcio: .291 BA, 80 H, 7-for-18, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 3B, 3 2B in postseason / 74 G
* Jerry Downs: 1-for-2, 2 RBI in postseason pinch-hit appearances, 13 H, 4 2B / 25 G
* Tyler Esplin: First player in Salem Red Sox history with multi-homer postseason game, 4-for-16, 4 RBI, 4 R, 2 HR, 2B in postseason / 6 G
* Ryan Fitzgerald: Carolina League All-Star Shortstop, Carolina League Midseason All-Star, .271 BA, .984 FLD%, 65 RBI / 132 G
* Devlin Granberg: .222 BA, 15 RBI, 7 2B, 25 H / 29 G
* Elih Marrero: 3 RBI, HR, 2 2B, 9 H, 38.5% runners caught stealing / 16 G
* Tanner Nishioka: .250 BA, 38 RBI, 67 H / 82 G
* Michael Osinski: .277 BA, 7 RBI, 6 2B, 18 H / 29 G
* Jagger Rusconi: Salem's Most Interesting Man, .196 BA, 29 RBI, 16 2B, 74 H, 6 SB / 107 G
* Nick Sciortino: 48.8% runners caught stealing, .163 BA, 27 H / 56 G
* Grant Williams: .333 BA, 5 RBI, 5 2B, 24 H / 22 G
* Yoan Aybar: 1.80 ERA, 2 holds, 5.0 IP / 4 G
* Logan Browning: Salem Dance Leader, 2-1, 2.81 ERA, 3 holds, 1 save, 16.0 IP / 9 G
* Enmanuel De Jesus: Carolina League Pitcher of the Week 6/24-30, 10-9, 3.58 ERA, 127 K, 136.1 IP / 25 GS
* Jhonathan Diaz: Scoreless last three consecutive starts, 9-8, 3.86 ERA, 126 K, 134.2 IP / 28 GS
* Rio Gomez: 2.80 ERA, 2 holds, 2 saves, 38 K, 45.0 IP / 25 G
* Daniel Gonzalez: 4.36 ERA, first full-season in rotation, 105 K, 155.0 IP / 27 GS
* Dominic LoBrutto: 2-1, 2.04 ERA, 4 holds, 3 saves, 36 K, 35.1 IP / 23 G
* Joan Martinez: 4-4, 3.88 ERA, 3 holds, 1 save, 58 K, 48.2 IP / 29 G
* Andrew Politi (AJ): Carolina League Pitcher of the Week 8/18-24, scoreless in 4 of 6 starts, 6-2, 3.55 ERA, 4 holds, 1 save, 96 K, 78.2 IP / 34 G / 6 GS
* Zach Schellenger: 1-1, 1 hold, 2 saves, 51 K, 36.0 IP / 26 G
* Alex Scherff: 1-0, 1.42 ERA in Carolina League debut
* Andrew Schwaab: Saves leader for Salem, closer, 2-1, 2.01 ERA, 14 saves, 44 K , 40.1 IP / 37 G
* Dylan Thompson: 7-8 (incl. win with Portland), 53 K, 86.0 IP / 20 G / 17 GS
* Thad Ward (Thaddeus): 4-3, 2.33 ERA, 77 K, 60 IP / 13 GS

batting average and ERAs reflect regular season.

Noteworthy
Salem finished one hit shy of tying the single game franchise record with a 19-hit performance 4/9 at Lynchburg.
* Kutter Crawford set the starters 2019 single game strikeout record with 11, 5/8 against Wilmington.
* Dylan Hardy (4/20) and Edgar Corcino (7/15) each recorded 6-RBI single game records against Frederick.
* Dylan Hardy, Edgar Corcino, Marcus Wilson, Pedro Castellanos and Tyler Esplin all recorded multi-homer games.
* Dylan Hardy had Salem's lone grand slam of the season 4/20 at Frederick.
* Devlin Granberg, Keith Curcio and Garrett Benge set a new franchise record for three home runs in a playoff game 9/1.
* Jarren Duran and Marcus Wilson took back-to-back Carolina League Player of the Month awards for June and July.
* Salem lead all of the Carolina League and Boston Minor League system in batting average (.258).
* Sox arms lowered their ERA from a 4.07 to a 2.83 to close the regular season.
* The Red Sox walked-off against opponents seven times. They had 22 come-from-behind wins.
* Salem swept six series.
* Salem turned around from a 25-42 last place first-half record to finish 67-70 overall with a best 42-28 second-half finish.
* Corey Wimberly managed a franchise-high transaction total at 125 roster moves.
* The Sox returned to the postseason for the first time since 2016 and first as a member of the North Division.


The Salem Red Sox are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and call Haley Toyota Field in Salem, Virginia home. The team was founded in 1968 and purchased by Fenway Sports Management in December of 2007. For more information on the Salem Red Sox, please visit SalemRedSox.com or contact Melanie Newman at [email protected].