CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Red Sox Rally Past Dash 7-6 in 10

Published on July 16, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Salem, VA - Will Middlebrooks' infield single in the bottom of the tenth capped off a wild comeback for the Red Sox, as Salem scored three in the ninth to tie the game before completing a 7-6 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash in the first extra inning at Lewis-Gale Field on Friday night. Salem never led until the last play of the contest, trailing 3-0 after four-and-a-half and 6-3 after eight-and-a-half.

Jon Hee led off the tenth with a walk and Luis Segovia pinch-ran, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mitch Dening. Segovia moved to third on a wild pitch, Peter Hissey was issued a free pass, and Oscar Tejeda was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. With the infield drawn in, Middlebrooks came up and smacked a grounder to shortstop Mike Richard, who dove to his left to snag the ball, but his throw home was too high and too late to get Segovia, who scored the winning run. The Sox poured out of the dugout and cascaded upon Middlebrooks, while the 4,509 fans at Salem Memorial Ballpark celebrated arguably the most dramatic victory of the 2010 season.

The game was sent into extras because of a wild ninth inning. With the score tied at three entering the frame, Winston-Salem's Kyle Shelton delivered a two-out, two-run bloop single to put the Dash up 5-3. Brandon Short singled up the middle to add another tally and provided the Dash with a three-run cushion heading to the last of the ninth.

But Salem worked their late-inning magic in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Charlis Burdie. After entering the game with runners on first and second and one out, Burdie walked Tejeda before getting a groundout off the bat of Middlebrooks. Hee scored on the play to make it 6-4, but the fielder's choice brought the Sox to within an out of defeat. After a passed ball brought home Hissey to make it a one-run game, Burdie walked Tim Federowicz to put runners at first and second. Newcomer Dan Butler came up next and blasted a clutch two-out, game-tying double. Drew Hedman was intentionally walked, loading the bases and bringing up Ryan Dent. But Dent grounded out to shortstop to strand the bags packed and send the game to the tenth.

The Dash jumped out in front in the second inning on a Jordan Cheatham RBI single and extended their cushion to 3-0 in the fifth on a Brandon Short sac fly and a two-out double steal that saw Shelton steal home for the second run of the inning.

The pesky Sox started their first comeback of the night in the bottom half of the fifth as Hissey brought home Dening with a two-out single up the middle to pull Salem within 3-1. After failing to score any more in the fifth, Dent continued the comeback with a one-out double in the seventh, later scoring on an RBI groundout by Dening. Hissey came up with two outs and roped a two-bagger to right-center, scoring Hee to tie the game at three.

Salem was the beneficiary of 10 walks from the Winston-Salem pitching staff, including seven in the final three frames. Considered to be one of the stronger bullpens in the league, the Dash's relievers have struggled in this series, posting an 11.58 ERA by allowing 13 runs, 12 earned, in 9.1 innings, while walking 12 Sox batters. Salem finished with nine hits on the night, two of which came from Middlebrooks. The third baseman made up for an error in the top half of the ninth with two RBI, including the game-winner. Hissey was 2-for-3 on the evening with a double, RBI and a run scored.

Lost in the late inning heroics was the performance of Stolmy Pimentel, who returned to his early season form with seven strong innings, setting a career-high. Making his first start since appearing in the MLB Futures Game Monday, Pimentel struck out six batters, while only allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits.

The Sox look for the series victory in the finale of the four-game set, scheduled for Saturday evening at 6:05 PM. Miguel Gonzalez will look to bounce back from his rough outing on Monday, while Joe Serafin makes his second start of the year for the Dash.

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Carolina League Stories from July 16, 2010


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