CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Late Offense Fuels Red Sox' 3-2 Walkoff Win

Published on April 25, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Salem, VA- Trailing 2-0 after six innings, the Salem Red Sox were seemingly on the verge of their second consecutive blanking. Three innings later, the Sox walked off victorious on Luis Exposito's bottom-of-the-ninth line drive single to left-center field, prompting cheers from the 4,086 in attendance at Lewis-Gale Field, most of whom were wondering why the Salem offense was MIA for the previous 18 innings. That's how many scoreless frames the Pelicans pitching staff had totaled consecutively before the Red Sox broke through in the last of the seventh.

Myrtle Beach starter Jeff Locke's no-hit bid ended when Kris Negron singled up the middle to lead off the home half of the seventh for Salem. After consecutive ground-outs, Chih-Hsien Chiang doubled in the left-center field gap to put the Sox on the board. Locke departed after the Chiang RBI, finishing with an impressive stat line of six and two-thirds innings, two hits, one run, two walks, and seven Ks. But while he left with a lead, the Red Sox offense had finally awakened.

Salem gathered another run in the eighth off reliever Michael Broadway, who hit third-baseman Will Vazquez with an 0-2 pitch that struck the back of the helmet. In a scary moment, Vazquez tumbled to the ground in the batter's box. He would leave the game for a pinch-runner, but he also walked off the field under his own power.

The next batter, Luis Segovia, dropped down a sacrifice bunt that moved the pinch-runner, Zak Farkes, up to second. Then Matt Sheely stepped in, and from the number nine spot, muscled a single up the middle that brought Farkes across to tie the game at two, setting the stage for the ninth inning heroics from Exposito.

The walk-off hit was partially enabled by Mike Jones, who doubled with one out off reliever Tommy Palica to extend his hitting streak to nine games and put the winning baserunner aboard. Chiang grounded out, with Jones moving to third. With two outs, Exposito fouled off a number of tough pitches before blasting the sinking liner into left-center field to win it for the Red Sox.

Ryne Miller earned the win, his Carolina League leading fourth of the season, with two scoreless innings of relief. Salem starter Eammon Portice delivered another solid outing, allowing just one run, a Freddie Freeman second-inning homer, on two hits in five innings. Myrtle's other run came off of lefty reliever Kyle Fernandes, who surrendered one in two innings of his own.

With two triumphs under their belt, the Sox seek a winning homestand in Sunday's matinee, a 2:05 start at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Kyle Weiland will make his fourth start for the Sox, opposite Carlos Rivas for the Pels.

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Carolina League Stories from April 25, 2009


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