WILMINGTON, DE (Sunday, May 27) - The Salem Red Sox finally had their offense come to life Sunday afternoon, as Roldani Baldwin blasted a solo homer to cap a 10-hit effort in a 7-2 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium.Salem (23-24) had only mustered 13 hits over
WILMINGTON, DE (Sunday, May 27) - The Salem Red Sox finally had their offense come to life Sunday afternoon, as Roldani Baldwin blasted a solo homer to cap a 10-hit effort in a 7-2 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium.
Salem (23-24) had only mustered 13 hits over their three previous games before they put the lumber to their hosts on Sunday. Wilmington (20-29) committed four errors and hit two batters in the game, with the miscues contributing to their loss. The Sox snapped a four-game losing streak with the win, and stayed within four games of first place in the Carolina League's Northern Division.
Salem got the scoring going in the top of the second against Wilmington starter Jace Vines (L, 2-6), as C.J. Chatham cracked a leadoff single. Jerry Downs popped out, but Bobby Dalbec and Tyler Hill each singled, loading the bases. Jordan Wren worked a walk to plate Chatham, and Chris Madera brought Dalbec in on a sacrifice fly for the second run of the inning. Vines plunked Santiago to load the bases again, and Brett Netzer singled to center, scoring Wren and Madera to give Salem a 4-0 lead.
Wilmington got some of those runs back in the bottom of the inning against Red Sox righty Bryan Mata (W, 3-2), who issued walks to Chris DeVito and Xavier Fernández to start the frame. Angelo Castellano dropped a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with one away. Vance Vizcaino singled to right to score DeVito, but Hill fired a perfect throw home to get Fernandez out, with Vizcaino moving to second on the throw. Oliver Nunez was able to line a single to center, scoring Vizcaino and trimming the lead to 4-2.
The Sox replied in the top of the fourth, as Hill reached to lead off the frame when Angelo Castellano mishandled his line drive, and moved up to second on a groundout by Wren. Madera singled Hill to third, and Espinal cracked a single through the middle to score Hill and extend Salem's advantage to 5-2. The Sox added an insurance run in the sixth, as Roldani Baldwin reached to lead off the inning on another Castellano blunder before Chatham singled him to second. Downs flew out to the warning track in left, letting the runners advance after tagging up, and Dalbec hit a sacrifice fly to plate Baldwin to give the Sox a 6-2 edge.
The visitors put an exclamation point on the game in the ninth inning. With one out and reliever Josh Mitchell on the mound, Baldwin slammed a solo homer to left field. The dinger was his fifth of the season, and it put the Sox ahead by their final margin of 7-2.
Mata gave up two runs on four hits and four walks in five innings, fanning four. Hunter Smith and Algenis Martinez each struck out two and walked one in two innings of relief apiece.
The Sox will try to earn a series split Monday afternoon in a Memorial Day matchup. Righty Roniel Raudes will toe the slab for Salem against Wilmington righty Anthony Bender. First pitch from Frawley Stadium is at 12:05 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 11:45 a.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.
