Salem Capitalizes on Woodpeckers Miscues to Secure Victory   

SALEM, Va. – For the second night in a row, a strong push in the late innings, paired with a bizarre series of events leads to 12 Red Sox runs in a dominant win. Salem took down Fayetteville 12-5 in game two of the six game series, sparking a two-game win streak to begin the Red Sox twelve game home stand.

Both teams escaped the first inning scoreless, before Fayetteville tallied two runs in the top of the second and Salem responded with a run of their own in the home half, cutting the lead in half. The two teams went scoreless again in the third, before Salem evened it up at four in the bottom of the fourth, as Ronald Rosario scored on a throwing error from Leosdany Molina. Rosario was aboard with a walk in the first place and this was the beginning of pitching and fielding troubles for the Woodpeckers.

Fayetteville would fight right back, doubling up on Salem again in the top of the fifth with a two piece, making it a 4-2 ballgame. The success started with a solo homer from Narbe Cruz, his second home run of the series in as many games. John Garcia would double before being hit home by Luis Encarnacion to make it 4-2.

The Red Sox cut the lead back down to one in the home half of the fifth as Miguel Bleis drilled a double into left before stealing third and being batted in by Allan Castro on a groundout. It was 4-3 Fayetteville heading into the sixth.

Suddenly, the game took a turn and the Red Sox never looked back. Salem piled on a five piece in the bottom of the sixth. The wild thing is, only one hit was recorded. A balk, four wild pitches, a stolen base, an error, three walks, and a hit by pitch put runs on a platter for the Red Sox.

Salem kept their foot on the gas with two more runs in both the seventh and eighth respectively, all while holding Fayetteville to just one run after the fifth inning and that one run came in the top of the ninth. Three more wild pitched and three more walks on top of one Juan Chacon RBI single helped the Red Sox in the seventh. Salem worked two more walks and were gifted two more wild pitches in the eighth, paired with two base hits, including an RBI single from Karson Simas.

All together, the Red Sox were out hit 10-6 by the Woodpeckers and yet, won the game 12-5. Fayetteville committed four errors to Salem’s one. The Woodpeckers walked 12 batters and only struck out seven, while the Red Sox only walked four and struck out 13 as a staff.

The two teams will run it back again tomorrow night in Salem for game three of the six game series. It’s “540 Night” at the ballpark. First Pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Location: Salem Memorial Ballpark

First Pitch: 7:06 p.m.

Time of Game: 2:56