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CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Bats Remain Dull as Nats Double up Sox 4-2

September 1, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


The Red Sox managed just four hits and plated only two unearned runs as the Nationals beat the Sox 4-2 on Wednesday evening at Lewis-Gale Field. Sean Rooney's two-run homer in the top of the fourth broke a 1-all tie and provided the visitors from Potomac with an advantage that they would not relinquish. The loss is Salem's seventh in its last nine games, and the 16th in the last 22, dropping the Sox to a season-worst four and a half games behind Kinston, who knocked off Frederick for the second straight night to win its eighth in a row. Kinston's magic number to clinch the final playoff spot in the Southern Division shrunk to three on Wednesday night.

Potomac starter Marcos Frias was in charge in his six innings atop the hill, surrendering just three hits as he retired 13 of the final 15 he faced. The win improved Frias to 7-5 on the year, as Carlos Martinez went two scoreless frames before Patrick McCoy pitched the ninth, allowing an unearned run but nothing more to earn his fifth save.

Salem scooted to a 1-0 lead thanks to an error from Nationals second-baseman Francisco Soriano. Ryan Dent doubled and advanced to third on Soriano's mishandled cutoff, then scored on Jon Hee's grounder to short. Dent's two-base knock was the only extra-base connection for Salem in the ballgame.

Potomac manufactured a run in the top of the third to even the score, as Dan Lyons singled, stole second, moved to third on an errant pick-off attempt, and then came across on a wild pitch. The Nationals appeared poised to take the lead in the third inning, particularly when Derek Norris looked to score on Bill Rhinehart's two-out single. But as soon as the play ended, the Red Sox appealed to third base, and the umpires ruled that Norris missed the bag, calling him out. In the aftermath of the play, Norris, who never appeared to lose his temper whatsoever, was ejected by home plate umpire Gus Curtis. Robby Jacobson replaced Norris and went 2-3 off the bench.

While the Nationals were denied a lead in the third, they would not come up empty handed in the fourth. Rooney's third homer off the season, a two-run shot off Miguel Gonzalez, gave the Nats a 3-1 edge. Potomac would add one more in the fifth as Jacobson singled home Soriano for an unearned tally.

Gonzalez' record slipped to 6-3 as he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked two, as Salem fell to 10-4 in games that the Californian righthander has started. In relief, Seth Garrison and Pat Ryan quieted the Nationals over four scoreless innings, yet the Salem offense remained similarly silent, adding just another unearned run due to Tyler Moore's error in the ninth.

The Red Sox' week and a half dearth of clutch hitting continued, as Salem went 0-5 with runners in scoring position, slipping to 5-61(.082) in that category in the last nine games, a stretch in which the Red Sox have only scored 23 total runs.

Fighting for their postseason lives, the Salem Sox look to ride their All-Star righthander Brock Huntzinger to victory on Thursday night, as he throws opposite Potomac's Evan Bronson. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

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