CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Nationals Resilience Earns 8-6 Triumph in Salem

Published on April 13, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Salem and Potomac endured wet baseballs, bullpen collapses, and a steady rainfall from the sixth inning on. In the end, the Nationals offense amounted to eight runs, good enough to defeat the Red Sox in a game that felt like multiple contests wrapped in one.

For the fifth straight game, the Salem Red Sox fell behind early. Potomac scored five first inning tallies off Salem starter Seth Garrison, highlighted by Michael Burgess' towering first home run of the season, and the Nationals jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Sox could swing the bats. Garrison would settle down, pitching three scoreless frames after the rough first to keep the Nationals offense at bay.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox offense continued to struggle with runners on base. The Sox could not capitalize when Ryan Kalish drilled a two-out single in the first, nor could they take advantage when Luis Exposito doubled and Jered Stanley singled to put runners on the corners with one out in the second. The Sox, 5-46 with runners in scoring position through four games, came up empty in both spots.

In the third inning, however, Salem finally broke through. After Kris Negron walked to begin the frame, Aaron Reza chipped in with his first base hit of the season to move the offense in the right direction. Reza, who was hitless in his first 19 at-bats, went 2-5 batting in the two spot. While the Sox once again could not muster a hit with a baserunner in scoring position, a Kalish grounder moved Negron to third, and the Salem shortstop scored on Jason Place's sacrifice fly, getting the Sox on the board.

Two innings later, in the fifth, the Sox took advantage of back-to-back walks that accompanied Reza's second base hit and loaded the bases with two outs. Chih-Hsien Chiang broke through with a base hit, the Red Sox' first of the season with the bases loaded, to score two runs. Place was thrown out trying to advanced from first to third, but the runner from second, Kalish, had crossed the plate seconds before the tag at third, ensuring that the Sox were back within a pair, at 5-3.

In the sixth, the comeback continued. Mike Jones was plunked by a pitch, Stanley singled, advancing Jones to second, and Segovia lined a base hit into left field, allowing Jones to cross the plate and bring the Sox to 5-4. With Stanley at third and Segovia at first, Segovia stole second, and the throw from catcher Sean Rooney flew into center field, permitting Stanley to score easily from third to tie the game at five.

The Sox took advantage of another fielding miscue by Potomac in the seventh and took their first lead of the game. Kalish walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved over to third on a productive Place grounder to second. With the infield in, Chieng drilled it sharply to first, where Nationals first baseman Chris Marrero aimed it home and tossed it on the bounce past Rooney. Kalish scored with ease to give the Sox a 6-5 lead.

An inning later, though, Marrero atoned for his mistake, taking Salem reliever Jason Rice deep to the opposite field for a line-drive solo homer that tied the game. Flustered, Rice hit the next batter, Jesus Valdez, and yielded a single to Francisco Plasencia that moved Valdez to third. Rooney's sac fly put Potomac back on top, while Aaron Seuss' moon shot off the wall in left center brought home another run to give the Nats an 8-6 edge.

Though the Red Sox put two runners on base in the ninth, they could not break through against Potomac reliever Jamie Lehman, who earned his first save of the season. Both teams records move to 2-3, with game two of the four game series scheduled for Tuesday night at Lewis-Gale Field. Right-handers Erik Arnesen and Kyle Weiland will match up in a duel of opening day starters.

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Carolina League Stories from April 13, 2009


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