Stingy Sox Swipe 5-2 Victory from Hillcats
April 13, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release
Salem, VA (April 13, 2011) - The solid pitching continued and Jeremy Hazelbaker recorded his first career multi-homer game as Salem dispatched Lynchburg 5-2 in front of 2,538 on Wednesday evening at LewisGale Field. After dropping the season opener on Sunday afternoon, Salem has now won three straight and will aim for a sweep of the Hillcats on Thursday night.
Hazelbaker entered the evening 0-6 in three games, but got off his schneid with a pair of line-drive homers to right field, both solo shots off Willie Kempf in the first and third innings.
Salem starter Ryan Pressly only allowed four hits, all singles, in five innings, picking up the victory despite two unearned runs charged against him. In relief, Anatanaer Batista and Cesar Cabral each delivered a pair of scoreless innings, bringing the Red Sox bullpen's consecutive scoreless streak to 15 innings to begin the season. Cabral, who earned the win in Sunday night's comeback win, took his first save of the season by striking out four Hillcats in a pair of hitless frames on Wednesday.
Two Red Sox errors allowed Lynchburg to even the score at two in the fifth, but Salem quickly reassumed the edge with some more timely hitting. With two outs, Reynaldo Rodriguez's liner off the pitcher's glove scored Kolbrin Vitek from second base. Then Dan Butler doubled down the right field line to bring home Rodriguez all the way from first, putting the Sox on top 4-2.
Salem added one more insurance run in the sixth, when David Mailman doubled to begin the inning and scored on Derrik Gibson's RBI single. The Red Sox finished the night with a season-high nine hits, while perhaps more importantly, the pitching staff did not allow an earned run, dropping the team ERA to 2.81 through four games.
Hazelbaker and Rodriguez each finished with multiple hits for the Red Sox, and Vitek registered his first Carolina League hit, going 1-2 with two walks.
Salem shoots for a three-game sweep of its 460 rival on Thursday evening as lefty Chris Hernandez gets his first opportunity of the season. Hernandez, a seventh round pick in the 2010 draft out of Miami, will make his Carolina League debut against Lynchburg's Dimaster Delgado, with the first pitch set for 7:05.
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Carolina League Stories from April 13, 2011
- P-Nats Split Doubleheader With Dash - Potomac Nationals
- Lynchburg Drops Second Straight In Salem - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Keys Push Past Pelicans With Pitching - Frederick Keys
- Stingy Sox Swipe 5-2 Victory from Hillcats - Salem Red Sox
- First-Inning Run Holds up for Keys - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Melville Shines in One-Run Win - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Pomeraz Shines, But Blue Rocks Beat Kinston 2-1 - Kinston Indians
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Dash Doubleheader Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
- Salem Red Sox and Lions of Virginia Collecting Donations for Pulaski Tornado Victims - Salem Red Sox
- Dash Opens Home Slate Friday - Winston-Salem Dash
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