Sox Offense Comes Alive to Slap Losing Streak

The Salem Red Sox (50-48, 15-17) snapped their five-game losing streak with a combined shutout pitching performance over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (43-54, 12-20) in a 6-0 final.

Angel Bastardo, Christopher Troye and Nathanael Cruz put together one of the most dominant displays on the mound this season to give Salem its first win of the series and second shutout in three weeks.

Bastardo (W, 3-3) controlled the tempo early by striking out five Woodpeckers batters and only surrendering four base hits in his five innings of work.

Meanwhile, Troye (H, 4) handled a perfect inning with two strikeouts before Cruz (S, 1) brought the Red Sox to the finish line by allowing only one hit in his three innings on the mound; the Dominican Republic native made his first appearance for Salem since April 13 when he suffered an injury in his first start.

After being named the Houston Astros minor league pitcher of the month, Miguel Ulloloa (L, 2-1) couldn’t buy a strike in the opening inning and walked Brainer Bonaci, Marcelo Mayer and Blaze Jordan to load up the bases.

Tyler Miller came through in the very next at-bat when he drove a deep flyout to center-field which scored Bonaci from third and broke the scoreless start.

Later in the third inning, Kier Meredith raised his RBI total to 14 on the season as he slapped a single over Leosdany Molina’s head at shortstop to score Mayer and Miller to give the Red Sox their largest lead of the series.

In only his third day with the team, Daniel McElveney crushed an RBI double off the left-center wall to score Jordan; not only was it the Salem catcher’s first hit in Single-A ball, but it’s his third straight game with an RBI.

Going into the eight inning with a 4-0 advantage, Salem put the game to rest with a couple of scores with Eddinson Paulino scoring from third on a throwing error from Fayetteville’s Freddy Guilamo. Later in the inning, Justin Williams committed a fielding error on Jordan infield chopper that allowed Bonaci to score and brought the contest to its final score.

The Salem Red Sox and Fayetteville Woodpeckers will meet for the fourth game of the six-game series on Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

First Pitch: 7:04 p.m.

Time of Game: 2:37

Attendance: 3,937

Venue: Carilion Clinic Field