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Sox Withstand Wood Ducks 5-4 Sunday

Salem Takes Season Series with Narrow Victory
Michael Osinski was the only Sox player to reach base twice Friday. (John Wacher)
August 19, 2018

SALEM, VA (Sunday, August 19) - The Salem Red Sox were able to claim victory in a closely-fought series Sunday afternoon, edging the Down East Wood Ducks 5-4 at Haley Toyota Field.The Red Sox (27-38, 59-64) fell behind early on but made a charge in the middle of the game,

SALEM, VA (Sunday, August 19) - The Salem Red Sox were able to claim victory in a closely-fought series Sunday afternoon, edging the Down East Wood Ducks 5-4 at Haley Toyota Field.
The Red Sox (27-38, 59-64) fell behind early on but made a charge in the middle of the game, plating four out of their five runs in the sixth inning. Down East (18-38, 53-73) got the tying and winning runs aboard in the seventh but fell short of retaking the lead, and took the loss. Salem earned a 4-3 victory in the season series between the clubs.

The Wood Ducks jumped ahead right away in the top of the first against Salem starting pitcher Kevin McAvoy (ND), who retired the first two batters he faced. However, Anderson Tejeda pounced on the first pitch he saw from McAvoy, blasting it over the wall in right for a solo homer to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Down East expanded their edge in the top of the second. Yanio Perez cracked a one-out single up the middle, and Ricardo Valencia hit a double to right to put runners at second and third. McAvoy recovered to strike out Brendon Davis looking, but Alex Kowalczyk lined a two-out single to right, scoring both runners and extending the lead to 3-0.
Salem finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth against Wood Ducks starter Tyler Thomas (ND), who walked Ryan Scott with two outs before issuing a wild pitch that let Scott scoot to second base. Nick Lovullo cracked an RBI single through the middle, plating Scott and trimming the Down East lead to 3-1.
The Sox surged ahead in the bottom of the sixth inning against new reliever Kaleb Fontenot, who walked Tyler Hill and Brett Netzer to open the frame. Josh Tobias bunted the runners to second and third, and Fontenot plunked Jerry Downs to load up the bases. Michael Osinski cracked a single up the middle to score Hill and Netzer and send Downs to third, and an error by Leody Taveras in center allowed Osinski to reach second on the play. Victor Acosta hammered a double to left field, plating both Downs and Osinski and giving the Sox a 5-3 lead.
The Wood Ducks eroded the lead slightly in the top of the seventh. Following two shutout frames from reliever Austin Glorius (W, 1-0), Hunter Smith (H, 5) entered and ran into trouble right away. Davis led off with a double to left, and moved up to third base on a grounder up the middle by Kowalczyk that Netzer muffed for an error, leaving runners at the corners. A groundout by Leody Taveras plated Davis and moved Kowalczyk up to second base. Smith got Eric Jenkins to pop out for the second out, but walked Anderson Tejeda, and was yanked for Algenis Martinez (S, 6), who induced a pop-out from Andretty Cordero to end the frame with the Sox still ahead. Martinez went the rest of the way, stifling the Wood Ducks in the eighth and ninth to lock down the game for Salem.
McAvoy took a no-decision, allowing three runs on six hits in four innings and whiffing a season-best six while walking none. Glorius lived up to his name, walking one and fanning two in two no-hit frames. Smith surrendered a run on a hit and a walk while recording only two outs. Martinez struck out two and allowed only one hit in 2.1 shutout innings for the save.
After a day off Monday, the Sox will open a three-game set against the Frederick Keys on Tuesday. Righty Jake Thompson will toe the slab for Salem in the series opener. First pitch from Haley Toyota Field is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.