CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Clutch Hits, Key Pitches Earn Salem 6-4 Victory

Published on April 22, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Salem, VA - The Red Sox used timely two-out rallies to score their runs, then narrowly wiggled out of one jam after another to defeat the Potomac Nationals 6-4 on a cool, drizzly Friday night at LewisGale Field. Both teams had 13 hits and each team had at least one baserunner in every inning except the ninth, where Cesar Cabral retired the Nationals 1-2-3 for the only perfect half-inning of the game. Salem starter Chris Balcom-Miller scattered eight hits in five innings, surrendering just one run to pick up his third victory of the season and becoming the first Carolina League pitcher with three wins on the season.

Salem scored its first five runs with two outs, the first three of which came in the bottom of the third inning. Down 1-0, Zach Gentile sat at first base with two away when Salem's 3-4-5 combo delivered three straight hits. Kolbrin Vitek tripled home Gentile to tie the game, Reynaldo Rodriguez singled to bring in Vitek and give Salem a 2-1 edge, and the lead became 3-1 when Dan Butler doubled, completing the rally.

The Vitek/Rodriguez/Butler triumvirate began the game with seven hits in the first nine at-bats, with six of the hits going for extra-bases. Butler finished the night 3-3 with three doubles, tying a Salem baseball record for most doubles in a game. In his final plate appearance of the night, Butler walked.

The Sox extended the lead to 5-1 in the fifth when Vitek, Rodriguez, and Butler contributed three consecutive two-base hits, all coming with two outs off Nationals starter Trevor Holder, who lasted five innings and got tagged with the loss. Holder yielded five runs on nine hits and fell to 0-2 on the season.

Potomac sliced the deficit in half with a pair in the top of the sixth. Stephen King and Sandy Leon both reached to begin the inning, and J.R. Higley drove them both in with a one-out RBI double that made it 5-3. Higley moved to third on Cutter Dykstra's fly-out to right-field, but was stranded at third when Jeff Jobernus grounded out. The Nationals would leave five more in the seventh and eighth innings, five of the 13 that Potomac stranded in the ballgame. The P-Nats went 3-for-20 with runners in the scoring position.

Zach Gentile went 3-4 for Salem and delivered an RBI double in the last of the sixth to provide an insurance run. The Nats got that run back in the top of the eighth, but left the bags packed when Steven Souza was caught looking on a 3-2 fastball from Cabral. Salem also had a golden opportunity to break it open in the bottom of the eighth, but Rodriguez popped up on a 3-2, two-out, bases-loaded offering from Nats reliever Rob Wort.

The game was officially delayed 17 minutes at the outset due to rain in the area that subsided around 7 PM. Much of the game was played in the midst of a fine mist, but once the first pitch was thrown, there was no further delay over the next three hours and one minute. It was Salem's first game lasting longer than three hours of the 2011 season.

With the win, the Red Sox improved to 10-3 and held onto first place in the Carolina League Southern Division, one half game ahead of Myrtle Beach (10-4).

Salem and Potomac reunite on Saturday at 6:05, with Pete Ruiz scheduled to oppose Marcos Frias.

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Carolina League Stories from April 22, 2011


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