Salem Red Sox Game Notes
July 30, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release
13 Hours after the conclusion of Tuesday night's game, Salem and Carolina take the field again for Wednesday's 11:05 am contest.
Simon Says: Though not spectacular, there has been positives to take out of Simon Mercedes' first two starts since returning from the disabled list. Mercedes has fallen victim to a big inning, allowing a three run first inning on July 19th against Potomac, and a four run third inning on July 24th at Lynchburg. But Mercedes has struck out 12 and only walked two in the ten innings he's thrown over those two starts. This 6:1 K/BB ratio is a major improvement for Mercedes, who held less than a 2:1 K/BB ratio in his previous six outings as a start- er with Salem this year.
A Steady Rise: Aneury Tavarez's season average slipped to .186 on May 31st, its low point of the season. But over the last two months, Tavarez has quietly and consistently pushed his average upwards. Tavarez is now hitting .255 on the season after last night's two hit night. Aneury is hitting .303 since June 1st (54/178), with 7 home runs and 22 RBIs in 47 games. Incredibly, Tavarez has hit in 37 of the 47 games over the two months, with two separate nine plus game hitting streaks. Tavarez has hit in four straight games, holding a .467 average (7/15) in those four contests.
Welcome to the Valley: The Sox received RHP Jonathan Aro from Greenville before Tuesday's game. Aro was solid out of the bullpen for the Drive this season, compiling a 2.27 ERA in 67.1 IP. Aro was 7/10 in save chances. Opposing hitters managed just a .211 batting average against Aro. Jonathan spent 2013 with Lowell, where he held a 2.14 ERA in 54.2 IP.
Notable Nuggets: Last night was just the fourth time in 31 games that a Salem Sox starter allowed more than three earned runs. Fur- thermore, Sox starters have surrendered two earned runs or less in 23 of their last 31 starts, dating back to June 25th. The starters hold a combined 12-8 record with a 3.01 ERA in those 31 contests (50 ER/149.2 IP). The Sox are 15-16 as a team over those 31 contests.
One explanation for that record is the Sox performance with runners in scoring position. Salem is hitting just .196 with RISP in the 16 losses (28/143) compared to a .364 clip with RISP in the 15 wins (51/140) since June 25th.
The Salem Sox are just 7-21 against Potomac and Frederick this sea- son, while they are 42-35 against the rest of the Carolina League. In the second half of the season, Salem is 2-13 against the Keys and P- Nats, and 14-8 against its other five league opponents.
Salem has the second lowest staff ERA in the Carolina League in the month of July, and has the third highest batting average this month. However, the Sox are just 10-15, the lowest July winning percentage in the league.
Through 105 games last year, the Salem Sox were four games back of a playoff spot, in third place in the South Division (July 26, 2013). Through 105 this season, the Sox are only 3.5 games out of first.
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