Salem Befuddle Buies Creek 4-1 Thursday

BUIES CREEK, NC (Thursday, July 19) - The Salem Red Sox broke out of a long scoring malaise and baffled their hosts all evening long Thursday night, whiffing a season-best 15 batters en route to a 4-1 win over the Buies Creek Astros at Jim Perry Stadium. 
Salem (15-12, 47-48) matched their previous season high in team strikeouts, and snapped a 17.1-inning scoreless streak in the second inning. The Astros (17-11, 54-43) scored in the first inning but didn't cross the plate the rest of the game. Both the three-game series and the season series are tied, with Friday's game set to decide them.

The Astros struck in the bottom of the first against Salem starting pitcher Darwinzon Hernandez (W, 7-5) who surrendered a one-out walk to J.J. Matijevic and an infield single to Osvaldo Duarte that put runners at first and second. Ronnie Dawson flew out to left for the second out, but Bryan De La Cruz was able to line an RBI single to the right-center field gap to plate Matijevic and give the Astros a 1-0 lead.
Salem struck back in the top of the second against Astros starter Cristian Javier (L, 3-2) . Michael Osinski hammered a ground-rule double to center with one away, and moved to third on a ground-out by Jerry Downs. Ryan Scott hammered a towering two-run homer to right field; it was his sixth homer of the year, and it put the Sox in front 2-1.
The Sox added some cushion in the top of the sixth frame. Osinski welcomed reliever Jose Hernandez with a single up the middle, and moved to second on a walk drawn by Downs. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, but strikeouts by Scott and Tyler Hill threatened to scuttle the frame. However, Chris Madera drew a walk to load the bases. Brett Netzer hit a swinging bunt up the third base line for an infield single, scoring Osinski and keeping the bases loaded. A passed ball by Carlos Canelon allowed Downs to scamper home, providing the Sox with their final 4-1 margin.
Hernandez was superb in his five innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits and a walk while whiffing seven batters for his fourth straight win. In four July starts, he's gone 4-0 with a 0.42 ERA and 30 strikeouts against 10 walks in 21.1 innings. Joan Martinez (H, 1) fired two flawless frames of relief, fanning four. Harrison Cooney (S, 1) worked around two hits and a walk in his two innings of action, recording four strikeouts.
The Sox will aim to close out this road swing with a series win Friday night, with righty Daniel Gonzalez scheduled to pitch for Salem against Astros righty Tyler Ivey. First pitch at Jim Perry Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.