Lynchburg Walks Off with 4-3 Comeback Victory
May 31, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release
Lynchburg, VA (May 31, 2010) - Carlos Mendez drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the tenth inning and the Lynchburg Hillcats came back from two runs down in the seventh to knock off the Salem Red Sox 4-3 at City Stadium Monday evening. The loss was the second straight for the Sox after a four-game winning streak.
Will Latimer came out for his third inning of work in the tenth, and after getting the first out, he allowed a single to Efrain Contreras. A passed ball pushed Contreras to second, and Josh Fellhauer was then walked to put runners at first and second. Latimer then got Cody Puckett to fly out to center to get the second out. However, Latimer walked Alex Buchholz to load the bases. Left-hander Kyle Fernandes was called upon to get out of the jam, but Fernandes walked the clean-up hitter Mendez on a 3-2 pitch to force in Contreras with the winning run.
The Sox took an early lead in the second inning off of Lynchburg starter Mark Serrano. Ryan Lavarnway was issued a leadoff walk and Mitch Dening promptly doubled him over to third base. Alex Hassan followed Dening with a single to right-center to score Lavarnway and put the Sox up 1-0.
Salem doubled its lead in the fourth as Dening nailed a triple to the left-center field gap with one out. Hassan then lined out to center to drive in Dening on a sacrifice fly.
Lynchburg cut the Sox lead in half in the fifth as Neftali Soto crushed his seventh home run of the season over the left-center field wall to make it 2-1 Salem.
The Sox regained their two run advantage in the seventh, a rally that began with Hassan's single through the hole into left field. Hedman followed with a single of his own to set up runners at the corners. Dent drove in Hassan with a sacrifice fly to right to increase the lead to 3-1.
The Hillcats responded in the bottom half of the seventh thanks to three consecutive singles. After Kevin Coddington and Soto singled with one out, catcher Ryan Lavarnway allowed a passed ball to move both runners up to second and third. Kyle Day came through for the Cats with a two-run knock to right to drive in both and tie the game at three.
Salem had a chance to take the lead in the top of the tenth after Jon Hee tripled to center with one out, but Hee was thrown out at the plate on a grounder back to the pitcher by Peter Hissey, and Salem came up empty.
Alex Wilson threw six fantastic innings for the Red Sox, with the lone mistake coming on the home run to Soto. Wilson struck out five and allowed just three hits in his six frames on the mound, his third quality start of the season, yet missed out on a win as the bullpen surrendered his lead.
The 460 series continues on Tuesday night with Stolmy Pimentel starting for Salem opposite of Lynchburg's James Avery. First pitch is set for 7:05.
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Carolina League Stories from May 31, 2010
- McFarland Masters Blue Rocks - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Lynchburg Walks Off with 4-3 Comeback Victory - Salem Red Sox
- T.J. McFarland Pitches a Gem, Kinston Wins 4-1 - Kinston Indians
- Teheran Makes History in Pelicans Win - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Cats Cap Comeback and Walk Off to Win - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Nery's Solid Start Not Enough - Frederick Keys
- Potomac Extinguishes Dash Rally - Winston-Salem Dash
- P-Nats Stop Dash 4-3 On Play At The Plate - Potomac Nationals
- Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Potomac Makes Roster Moves - Potomac Nationals
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