CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Sox Walk off with 4-3 Win Over K-Tribe

Published on August 10, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Salem, VA (August 10, 2010)- Oscar Tejeda smacked a game-winning single with the bases loaded in the tenth, propelling the Red Sox to a 4-3 triumph over the Kinston Indians on Tuesday night at Lewis-Gale Field. The victory snapped Salem's three-game losing streak and kept the Sox two games ahead of Myrtle Beach for the second half Southern Division playoff spot.

The Sox caught some breaks in the decisive 10th, as the first three hitters reached base without the ball passing the pitcher's mound. Ryan Dent led off with a beautiful bunt in between home plate and the mound, and he barely beat it out for a leadoff single. Mitch Dening then attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt, dragging in perfectly down the third base line, and Kyle Bellows was unable to pick the ball up, placing runners at first and second. Peter Hissey followed with numerous sac bunt attempts, but pitcher Chris Jones was unable to find the strike zone, walking Hissey on five pitches to load the bases with nobody out. After a brief visit from the Kinston pitching coach Tony Arnold, Tejeda laced a single to left past the drawn-in infield to score Dent from third for the winning run.

The All-Star second baseman finished 2-for-5 on the night, raising his average to .316, good for third in the Carolina League. The Dominican slugger now has 59 RBI on the season, second-best on the Salem Sox.

Salem jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage off of Kinston starter Joe Gardner. Dening and Hissey jump-started the Sox offense with back-to-back triples to lead off the bottom half of the first and put Salem up 1-0, just two batters into the lineup. Will Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch with one out to put runners at the corners, and Alex Hassan brought both of them home with a double down the left field line, surging Salem ahead by three. The two-bagger extended Hassan's hitting streak to 13 games, tying the team-high, set earlier this season by Middlebrooks. The Salem outfielder has now reached base safely in 20 straight games, two short of the team-high 22-game streak by Ryan Lavarnway.

Kinston nibbled its way back to even in the final half of the ball game, scoring two in the sixth and one in the eighth to tie the game at three. In the sixth, the Indians loaded the bases with nobody out off Salem starter Mark Holliman, scoring twice. Jeremy Tice and Bellows each provided RBI singles, but Holliman escaped with a slim lead, leaving the bags packed by getting the final two batters of the frame on a strikeout and a groundout.

Juan Diaz singled in Bellows in the top of the eighth to tie things at three, but reliever Cesar Cabral got Nate Recknagel to ground into a double play to get out of the jam.

Cabral ended up going the final three innings, picking up his first victory in a Salem uniform in his 19th appearance. Holliman was outstanding before the rocky sixth, yielding two runs on six hits, while striking out five during his six innings of work. Dening led the Sox with three hits, including his leadoff triple in the first.

With the four-game series even at one, the Sox and K-Tribe return to the diamond on Wednesday night at 7:05. Stolmy Pimentel looks to even his record at 8-8 for the Sox against the Indians' Austin Adams.

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Carolina League Stories from August 10, 2010


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