Warbirds Drop Third Straight to Salem

SALEM, V.A. – The Salem RidgeYaks pushed across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning to win their third straight game over the Wilson Warbirds 2-1 on Thursday night at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

Salem (5-1) loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning and captured the lead when Andrews Opata scored on a Garrett Hodges (L, 0-1) wild pitch to put the RidgeYaks ahead 2-1.

Wuilliams Rodriguez (W, 1-1) retired all four batters he faced out of the bullpen to lift the RidgeYaks to the victory.

Wilson (2-4) struck first in the fourth inning when Eric Martinez singled home Luiyin Alastre to give the Warbirds a 1-0 lead.

That advantage would be short lived as Salem tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a D’Angelo Ortiz single.

Wilson had a great scoring chance in the seventh when they loaded the bases with no outs but were unable to score as Nicolas De La Cruz retired Brady Ebel, Handelfry Encarnacion and Jose Anderson to strand all three runners.The seventh inning marked the second time in the contest the Warbirds left the bases loaded.

The two teams are scheduled to meet again on Friday night when Wilson sends RHP Enderson Mercao (0-0, 10.80) to the mound while Salem will oppose with RHP Madinson Frias (0-0, 32.40). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.