Crawdads Shut out Red Sox in First Game of Series

Sports stats

CarL Salem Red Sox

Crawdads Shut out Red Sox in First Game of Series

June 25, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Salem Red Sox News Release


SALEM, Va. - The Salem Red Sox (27, 41, 1, 3) were blanked by the Hickory Crawdads (37, 32, 4, 0) in an 8-0 defeat on Tuesday night at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The matchup marked the first-ever meeting between the two clubs in Salem. Unfortunately for the Sox, the historic first encounter ended in a shutout, their sixth of the season.

Right-hander Joey Gartrell, the 21-year-old from Gresham, Oregon, and product of the University of Portland, made his second career Single-A start for Salem. Despite showing flashes of promise, Gartrell ran into trouble early and often. In the first inning, he pitched around a one-out, two-on jam by striking out the Texas Rangers' No. 14 prospect, Yeremy Cabrera, to escape unscathed.

However, things unraveled in the fourth. Gartrell issued back-to-back leadoff walks to Pablo Guerrero, son of MLB Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, and Cabrera, putting two aboard with no outs. That prompted Salem manager Ozzie Chavez to call on left-hander Nicolas De La Cruz from the bullpen.

Gartrell exited after 2.2 innings, surrendering two hits, two runs, three walks, and three strikeouts in what would go down as a losing effort. De La Cruz couldn't keep the damage minimal, allowing consecutive RBI singles to Ben Hartl and Hector Osorio that extended the Crawdads' lead to 3-0 through four innings.

While Hickory's offense capitalized, Salem's bats were silenced by Crawdads starter Ismael Agreda. The righty came in firing, with a fastball that touched 97 mph, and held the Red Sox hitless through five frames. Salem's only baserunner in that stretch came in the first inning when Yoeilin Cespedes reached on an error.

Agreda turned in a dominant performance, earning the win after five innings of no-hit, shutout baseball with four strikeouts. He was followed by reliever Grant Cherry, who kept Salem off the board over the next three frames despite surrendering three singles.

The Sox finally broke up the no-hit bid in the sixth when Justin Gonzales led off with a single to left. However, Gonzales was left stranded, setting a trend that would continue throughout the night. Frederik Jimenez added a base knock in the seventh, and Enddy Azocar followed with one in the eighth, but none of the three were able to advance past first base.

Meanwhile, Hickory kept adding to their lead. In the top of the sixth, Beycker Barroso notched a two-out RBI single off reliever Nathanael Cruz to push the Crawdads ahead 4-0.

The nail in the coffin came in the top of the ninth. After Osorio was hit by a pitch and Barroso followed with a single, the top of the Crawdads' order came through. Devin Fitz-Gerald ripped an RBI double to right, Maxton Martin plated another run on a fielder's choice grounder mishandled by third baseman Yohander Linarez, and Antonis Macias added another with an RBI single. Cabrera capped off the four-run inning with a run-scoring groundout.

In total, Hickory tallied four runs on four hits in the ninth to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

Jake Jekielek pitched a clean ninth inning to close things out and give the Crawdads their fourth straight win to open the second half.

The Red Sox will look to bounce back on Wednesday night in game two of the six-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with southpaw Devin Futrell taking the mound for Salem and right-hander Enrique Segura toeing the rubber for Hickory.

Check out the Salem Red Sox Statistics



Carolina League Stories from June 25, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Salem Red Sox Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central