CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Kinston Serves Salem 6-4 Friday Setback

Published on August 14, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Salem, VA (August 14, 2009) - Beginning the final 25 regular season games with a stretch of 14 of 17 at home, the Red Sox saw the Southern Division race tighten as Kinston broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth and added pivotal insurance in the ninth to defeat Salem 6-4. At 22-24 in the half, the Red Sox sit just a game and a half ahead of the Indians, who rose to 21-26. Winston-Salem's victory over Frederick improved the Dash to a game and a half ahead of Salem atop the division.

Former teammates Bryan Price and Eammon Portice dueled through four fast, scoreless innings. The Indians scratched the surface against Portice with a single run in the fifth, then dealt a punch in the gut when Cord Phelps crushed a two-run dinger in the sixth to make it 3-0. The resilient Red Sox were able to plate a run off Bryan Price in the sixth, but the righthander who was traded to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez deal tossed his third consecutive quality start and only allowed one run on five hits in six innings.

Trailing 3-1 at the seventh inning stretch, the Red Sox recorded their first back-to-back hits in the game against Indians' reliever Chen-Chang Lee. Following Mike Jones' one-out single, Chih-Hsien Chiang's third triple of the season scored Jones to make it 3-2. With the infield in, Mailman lofted a sacrifice fly to left-center field, scoring Chiang from third to even the action at three.

But the lead was short-lived as the Indians responded with a single run in the eighth off Josh Papelbon. Former Salem Avalanche-Ole Sheldon singled to start the frame, and pinch-runner Adam White did the rest, Stealing second, moving to third on a ground ball, and scoring on a wild pitch to the backstop to make it 4-3. Salem threatened in the bottom of the eighth, but stranded both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position as Tim Federowicz grounded to short to end the frame.

In the ninth, an error permitted the leadoff man to reach, setting the stage for Kinston's vital insurance policy. Pena reached when Aaron Reza bobbled the grounder to second, the first defensive miscue of the ballgame for either club. Following a sacrifice bunt that moved Pena into scoring position, Tim Fedroff doubled off the wall to score Pena and make it 5-3. Cord Phelps singled in Fedroff in the ensuing at-bat to re-up the lead to three.

Despite a mammoth solo blast from Mike Jones to lead off the ninth, Salem's next three batters went down in order against Kyle Landis, who earned his fourth save of the year in preserving the triumph for the Indians. Both starters received no-decisions, as Lee improved to 4-4 and Papelbon fell to 4-2.

The Red Sox will be challenged by lefthander Scott Lewis on Saturday night, making the start as a major league rehab appearance for Kinston. In five career starts for the Cleveland Indians, the 2006 Carolina League Pitcher of the Year is 4-0 with a 3.49 ERA. Lewis will be opposed by Stephen Fife, who seeks revenge after the K-Tribe handed him his first Advanced-A loss last Sunday in North Carolina. Game time is set for 6:05 PM at Lewis-Gale Field.

Note: Earlier in the day, Salem shortstop/second baseman Kris Negron was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for major league shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Negron watched Friday's game from the stands and will journey to Sarasota, Florida to join the Sarasota Reds on Saturday. Negron played in 111 of the first 114 games for the Red Sox in 2009, his fourth year in the Boston organization. Negron hit .264 for the season, .306 since the All-Star Break.

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