Red Sox Blank Blue Rocks, 4-0
May 3, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release
Wilmington, DE (May 3, 2010) - Salem scratched for a couple early runs and Caleb Clay dominated the Blue Rocks offense to lead Salem to a 4-0 shutout victory on Monday evening at Frawley Stadium. The Red Sox, opening a seven-game road trip, limited the Blue Rocks to just three hits and led wire-to-wire after taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. With Winston-Salem dropping its game to Frederick, the Red Sox surged into a tie for first-place in the Southern Division with the Dash, with each team holding identical 17-7 records.
Clay dazzled on the bump for the Sox, completing six innings in just 59 pitches, allowing only two baserunners as he picked up his second win of the season. The righthander from Cullman, Alabama permitted just one hit and yielded one hit-by-pitch in his outing that included three strikeouts and no walks. On the season, Clay (2-0, 2.81) has walked just one batter in 25.2 innings pitched.
Lance McClain (two innings) and Blake Maxwell (one) finished the job on the mound for the Sox. Each hurler allowed one base hit to the foe, but both escaped unscathed to secure the victory, bringing the Sox to a new high water-mark for the 2010 season at ten games above .500. McClain struck out two, while Maxwell struck out one in the ninth before inducing a game-ending 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Jamie Romak.
Offensively, the Red Sox mustered enough offense for the win in the early stages of the game. Leadoff hitter Peter Hissey, a West Chester, PA native playing in front of dozens of family and friends, was hit by the very first pitch of the contest thrown by Blue Rock starter Chris Dwyer. Two batters later, Hissey scored on Anthony Rizzo's RBI double off the right-center field wall to make it 1-0. Rizzo advanced to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on Ryan Lavarnway's sacrifice fly to give Salem a 2-0 edge. Lavarnway finished 0-3, but drove in his league-leading 26th run of the season.
Salem added two more runs after the first, one each in the fourth and the sixth. The Sox took advantage of a two-out walk to Alex Hassan in the fourth, as Mitch Dening and Luis Segovia each followed the free pass with singles, the latter of which drove in Hassan to make it 3-0. Two innings later, Salem began the frame with four consecutive singles from Will Middlebrooks, Ryan Dent, Hassan, and Dening. Hassan, who finished 1-2 with two walks, picked up the RBI in the sixth when he drove home Middlebrooks to make it 4-0, a score that would stand for the remainder of the game.
Dening was the sole Salem Sock to finish with multiple hits, going 2-4 on the evening. The Red Sox did not have many chances off the trio of Wilmington pitchers, Chris Dwyer (who suffered the loss), Patrick Keating, and Buddy Baumann, but Salem went 3-9 with runners in scoring position and played another superb game defensively, not committing a single error behind their arms.
The triumph gave the Red Sox their third straight win, a stretch that has included a phenomenal pitching streak. After Kinston pounded 20 hits again Salem on Friday night at Lewis-Gale Field, the Red Sox have allowed just eight hits over the span of the last three games, all victories.
Salem and Wilmington continue their four-game set on Tuesday evening as Alex Wilson and Alex Caldera reunite as the pitching matchup for the second time in a week. The two Alex's started in last Wednesday's day game in Salem and both threw well before Salem prevailed with a 2-1 win. Game time for Tuesday is set for 6:35.
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Carolina League Stories from May 3, 2010
- Morris, P-Nats Quiet Pelicans in Opener - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Red Sox Blank Blue Rocks, 4-0 - Salem Red Sox
- Bullpen Brilliance Helps Guide Keys to Win - Frederick Keys
- P-Nats Pound Pelicans 4-1 - Potomac Nationals
- Dash Lose Big Lead, Game to Keys - Winston-Salem Dash
- Rocks Blanked for Third Time at Frawley - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Hillcats Scratch Kinston 4-1 - Kinston Indians
- Soto Homers Again, Boxberger Shines in Cats Win - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Dash's Greene Named Player Of The Week - Winston-Salem Dash
- Pelicans Make Moves - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- K-Tribe Notes For Monday - Kinston Indians
- Potomac Makes Roster Moves - Potomac Nationals
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