CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Sox Survive Rocks Comeback, Prevail 4-3

Published on June 25, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Salem jumped out to a 4-0 lead through seven and a half innings and withstood a feisty Wilmington rally over the final two frames to earn a slim 4-3 win on Friday night at Frawley Stadium. Red Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez tossed five scoreless innings to earn the victory, his first minor league triumph since a double-A win for the Arkansas Travelers on September 1, 2007. Having missed all of 2008 and 2009 with injuries, Gonzalez picked up the W in his fourth start and fifth appearance for Salem, changing speeds and locations to stymie the Blue Rocks batters in his time on the mound. The Rocks scrapped two runs off of Michael Lee in his three innings of work and plated one off Blake Maxwell in the ninth, but Wilmington stranded the tying run at third base in their last at-bat, and Maxwell earned his third save of the season by closing it out.

Ryan Dent led the Salem offense with a 2-3 night including a double and a sacrifice fly. The Sox shortstop scored the game's first run in the third inning on a two-out single by Peter Hissey. It was the only run the Sox were able to score through six innings again Blue Rocks starter Tim Melville, and heading to the seventh, the scoreboard still read 1-0.

But Melville's relatively smooth sailing went awry to start the seventh as he walked three straight to begin the inning. Melville left with the bases loaded and nobody out, and Salem plated a pair thanks to Dent's sac fly and Jon Hee's two-out single. Up 3-0 into the eighth, the Sox added another, this time an unearned tally as Oscar Tejeda scored from third on a two-out grounder off the bat of Tim Federowicz that was misplayed by Wilmington first baseman Eric Hosmer. Hosmer dropped the ball and allowed Salem's fourth run to score. It turned out to be a game-changing miscue.

The Blue Rocks finally broke through in the last of the eighth on a two-run double from Nick Francis, cutting the deficit in half and making the score 4-2. With the tying run at the plate and only one out, Lee was able to escape further damage, getting Hosmer to pop up and striking out Jamie Romak to avert the continued threat.

In the ninth, the Rocks loaded the bases with nobody out against Maxwell on an infield single, a walk, and an error. But Adam Frost grounded into a huge 6-4-3 double play that scored a run and moved the tying run to third, yet also inched the Sox toward victory. Patrick Norris drew a walk to put the potential go-ahead run at first, but Adrian Ortiz' bunt single attempt was fielded by Salem first baseman Drew Hedman, who tagged Ortiz down the first-base line to finish the game.

Salem scored all four of its runs with two outs on Friday night, snapping an 0-15 slump with runners in scoring position by going 3-11 in such situations.

With both Salem and Wilmington now 1-1 in the second half, the Sox and Rocks match up in a Saturday rubber match to determine the series winner. Stolmy Pimentel is set to start for the Red Sox, opposite Chris Dwyer for the Blue Rocks, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 at Frawley Stadium.

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Carolina League Stories from June 25, 2010


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