LYNCHBURG, VA (Friday, June 15) - The Salem Red Sox staged an exciting late-game comeback Friday night, but came up just short of overtaking their hosts as they dropped a 5-4 decision to their regional rival Lynchburg Hillcats at Calvin Falwell Field.Salem (31-35) fell behind early on, creating too large
LYNCHBURG, VA (Friday, June 15) - The Salem Red Sox staged an exciting late-game comeback Friday night, but came up just short of overtaking their hosts as they dropped a 5-4 decision to their regional rival Lynchburg Hillcats at Calvin Falwell Field.
Salem (31-35) fell behind early on, creating too large a hole to climb out of in the game. Lynchburg (28-37) snapped a seven-game losing streak with the win, and took their first lead since June 9 in the early going.
Lynchburg drew first blood in the bottom of the second against Salem starter Darwinzon Hernandez (L, 3-4), who gave up a leadoff single to Mitch Longo before throwing a wild pickoff attempt that allowed Longo to scoot all the way to third. Trenton Brooks ripped a double to deep left to score Longo, and a Logan Ice single put runners at the corners. Alexis Pantoja softly lined a single into the outfield to score Brooks, and Anthony Miller singled to load the bases up. Dillon Persinger hit a ball deep in the 5-6 hole that Santiago Espinal knocked down but couldn't make a play with, resulting in an RBI infield single that ran the lead to 3-0.
The Hillcats tacked on another pair in the bottom of the third inning. Hernandez plunked Longo and walked Brooks with one away, but recovered to fan Ice. However, Pantoja lined a two-run double down the left field line, extending Lynchburg's advantage to 5-0.
The Sox finally broke through in the top of the sixth against Lynchburg starter Justin Garza (W,3-4), who retired 12 straight batters from the second inning until Brett Netzer came up with two outs in the sixth. The Sox second baseman lined a single to left, and Espinal knocked a double to plate him and trim the lead to 5-1.
Salem made up a lot of ground in the top of the seventh against reliever Jared Robinson, who plunked Bobby Dalbec to begin the frame before walking Jerry Downs and allowing a single to Chris Madera to load the bases with nobody out. Trenton Kemp singled home Dalbec, Jordan Procyshen brought in Downs on a sacrifice fly, and Tyler Hill grounded out to third to score Madera. However, Netzer fanned with Kemp at second to end the inning, and relievers Rob Kaminsky (H, 1) and Dalbert Siri (S, 3) held the Sox off in the eighth and ninth innings to end the ballgame.
Hernandez surrendered five runs on eight hits and one walk over five innings, fanning six. Jared Oliver fired two shutout frames of relief, allowing just one hit and one walk while whiffing four. Matthew Gorst struck out the side in the only inning of action he saw.
The Sox will look to rebound night, with righty Jake Thompson making the start for Salem against Lynchburg lefty Sam Hentges. First pitch at Calvin Falwell Field 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.
