CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Red Sox Keep Rolling Past Dash, 7-4

May 7, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


Winston-Salem, NC - Salem's perfect month of May continued on Friday night in Winston-Salem with a 7-4 victory over the Dash in front of 6,749 at BB&T Ballpark. Despite the early morning arrival from Wilmington, the Red Sox showed little sign of fatigue, battling back from an early 1-0 deficit against the talented Dash. Mitch Dening led Salem with three hits from the eighth spot in the order, and the Red Sox bullpen combined for four and a third shutout innings with eight strikeouts to improve Salem to 21-7 on the year, three games ahead of the Dash, who dropped to 18-10.

Down 1-0 due to a Brandon Short solo homer in the first inning, the Sox offense was silent until the third, when Dening began a three-run rally with a single to give Salem its first baserunner. Tim Federowicz clocked a doubled into the left-field corner to tie the game at one, one batter before Anthony Rizzo crushed a two-RBI double to the left-center field gap to put the Sox up 3-1. Rizzo finished 1-4 with three RBI on the night.

Salem added a run to their advantage thanks to Dening's RBI double in the fourth, but Winston-Salem's top-ranked offense struck back in the fifth. The Dash entered the game batting .314 as a team, 41 points better than Salem's .273, and Winston flexed its offensive muscle for three runs to tie it up. Short led off with a double and scored two batters later when Jon Gilmore singled him in. Two batters after that, Ozzie Lewis belted a two-out, two-run, game-tying homer, knocking Salem starter Fabian Williamson out of the game. Williamson allowed four runs on seven hits over four and two-thirds innings and received a no-decision.

But the score would not be knotted for long, as the Red Sox retaliated for three more in their half of the sixth. The inning began with four consecutive singles from the bottom four hitters in the Salem order. Salem also took advantage of a fielding error by Gilmore when a rocket groundball from Ryan Dent slipped right through the third-baseman's legs. When Rizzo belted a sac fly to score Dening from third, the Sox led 7-4, a score that would stand through the final three innings.

Will Latimer tossed two and a third out of the bullpen to pick up his second win of the year, striking out three Dash in the process. To finish the job, Blake Maxwell K'd five over the final two frames to earn his second save and clinch Salem's seventh straight win.

The bottom third of the Salem lineup-Hassan, Dening, and Hee-combined to go 7-12 with five runs scored and two RBI for the Sox. In the miscellany department, second baseman Oscar Tejeda, who had only walked once in 104 plate appearances entering the game, drew his second and third walks of the season on Friday night.

Salem aims for eight straight when they take to the diamond on Saturday night against Winston-Salem. A premier pitching matchup is expected, with Caleb Clay (2-0, 2.81) hurling for the Sox against Nevin Griffith (4-0, 2.12) for the Dash. The first pitch will be tossed at 7:00 PM at BB&T Ballpark.

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Carolina League Stories from May 7, 2010


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