CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Deja Vu: Sox Fall 8-2 to Blue Rocks Again

August 25, 2018 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


WILMINGTON, DE - For the second night in a row, the Salem Red Sox found themselves on the wrong end of an 8-2 score, taking the loss Saturday night at the hands of the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium.

The Red Sox (28-32, 60-68) fell back to a season-worst eight games below .500 with the loss, and went just 2-10 with runners in scoring position. Wilmington (31-29, 62-68) picked up their second straight win after losing 10 consecutive games. Blue Rocks reliever Julio Pinto (S, 10) fired three perfect innings with two strikeouts to close out the Red Sox. Salem loaded the bases with nobody out twice in the game, but only came away with one run from those two situations combined.

After leaving the bases loaded in the first and squandering two hits in the second, Salem finally broke through against Wilmington starting pitcher Gerson Garabito (W, 7-6) in the top of the third inning. C.J Chatham and Jerry Downs both singled with one away, putting runners at the corners. Michael Osinski hit a bouncer up the middle; Downs was retired at second on a fielder's choice, but Osinski made it safely to first ahead of the throw, and Chatham zipped home to give Salem a 1-0 lead.

Wilmington moved in front in the bottom of the fifth against Salem starter Kevin McAvoy (L, 1-4). Vance Vizcaino cracked a leadoff single, and moved up to second on a wild pitch. McAvoy recovered to fan both Angelo Castellano and Blake Perkins, but Rudy Martin sliced an RBI triple just inside the right field line. D.J. Burt knocked an RBI single past Josh Tobias at third to score Martin, and Meibrys Viloria hit a fly to left that was just out of reach for the diving Jagger Rusconi. The resulting RBI double plated Burt and gave Wilmington a 3-1 advantage.

The Blue Rocks doubled their score in the sixth inning against Sox reliever Mark Montgomery, who nicked leadoff man Gabriel Cancel to put him aboard. Cancel swiped second, and Travis Jones singled him home. Montgomery tried to pick Jones off first, but Osinski couldn't catch the throw, and the resulting error moved Jones to second base. Vizcaino grounded to Osinski at first, allowing Jones to scoot to third with one away. Castellano grounded out to third for the second out, but Montgomery walked Perkins to put runners at the corners. Perkins tried a steal of second, and Montgomery's pitch was wild, allowing Jones to zip home. Martin then knocked an RBI single into left, scoring Perkins and running the lead to 6-1 for Wilmington.

The Sox threatened in the top of the eighth, as Blue Rocks reliever Corey Ray walked Nick Lovullo, Tyler Hill and Tobias to load the bases with no outs. New reliever Julio Pinto got Chatham to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play, but Lovullo still scored, cutting the margin to 6-2.

The Blue Rocks tacked on some cushion in the bottom of the eighth against Salem reliever Durbin Feltman, who gave up a leadoff single to Cancel and plunked Jones. Vizcaino bunted the runners to second and third, and Castellano laced a single over the drawn-in infield, scoring both runners for the final 8-2 margin.

McAvoy took the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk while fanning a season-best seven in five innings. Montgomery surrendered three runs on two hits and a walk while recording just two outs. Jared Oliver fanned two and issued a wild pitch in 1.1 innings of shutout relief. Feltman surrendered two runs on two hits in one inning, fanning a pair.

The Sox will try to avert the sweep Sunday afternoon, with righty Jake Thompson taking the ball for Salem against Wilmington southpaw Daniel Tillo. First pitch from Frawley Stadium is scheduled for 1:35 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 1:15 p.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.

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