Red Sox Fall in Extra-Inning Affair to Delmarva, 11-5

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CarL Salem Red Sox

Red Sox Fall in Extra-Inning Affair to Delmarva, 11-5

May 23, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Salem Red Sox News Release


SALEM, Va. - The Salem Red Sox (18-24) and Delmarva Shorebirds (17-26) battled through another marathon game on Friday night at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark, but it was the Shorebirds who emerged victorious in 12 innings, 11-5, to take a 3-1 series lead.

After Tuesday's 11-inning, three-hour-and-36-minute affair, the two teams played an even longer contest Friday, going 12 innings over the course of three hours and 58 minutes - Salem's longest game of the season.

The evening was special for more than just the action on the field. Friday was Breast Cancer Awareness Night, and the Red Sox welcomed a season-high crowd of 7,002 fans - their largest home attendance since 2018 and just the ninth crowd of 7,000 or more in Salem Memorial Ballpark history. Donning specialty pink jerseys, the Sox wasted no time giving the fans something to cheer about.

On the very first pitch of the bottom of the first inning, Yoeilin Cespedes launched a leadoff home run to left field, giving Salem an early 1-0 lead. It marked the sixth consecutive game with a home run for the Sox and their first leadoff homer since May 3, 2024.

After a groundout by Justin Gonzales, Andruw Musett doubled, Freili Encarnacion walked, and Kleyver Salazar brought home another run with a sacrifice fly. A wild pitch shortly thereafter allowed Encarnacion to score, giving Salem a 3-0 lead after one.

Delmarva, however, responded in the top of the third with three runs of their own. Luis Guevara, Yasmil Bucce, and Kevin Guerrero each drove in a run with RBI singles to even the score and chase Salem starter Steven Brooks out of the game. Brooks went 2.2 innings, allowing four hits, three earned runs, three walks, and recording three strikeouts in his seventh start of the season.

Salem briefly regained the lead in the fourth when walks to Encarnacion and Salazar set the stage for Frederik Jimenez, who drove in a run on an RBI fielder's choice to make it 4-3.

But Delmarva answered again in the sixth, tying the game 4-4 on another RBI single by Guevara.

From there, the bullpens took control. Joe Vogatsky threw 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and just one walk. Shea Sprague followed with a strong four-inning outing, giving up just one earned run and striking out four.

Tied at four after nine innings, the game headed to extras - the second extra-inning game of the series. In the top of the 10th, Manuel Medina worked out of a jam by inducing a fielder's choice to cut out the lead runner at third base for out number one.

In the bottom of the 10th, Cespedes was the placed runner and advanced to second on a single by Gonzales. But on the next play, Musett would roll over on a 0-1 off-speed pitch and ground it to the shortstop Edwin Amparo. He flipped to the second baseman Guevara for one and went to third to cut out the lead runner in a rare 6-4-5 double play.

The Sox went from runners on first and second with no outs to two outs and a runner on first.

Both teams traded runs in the 11th. A throwing error by Fraymi De Leon allowed Delmarva's placed runner to score. In the bottom half, Salem answered when a wild pitch and an errant throw into left field scored pinch-runner Karim Ayubi, tying the game at 5-5.

The 12th inning proved decisive. Delmarva broke the game open with six runs on five hit**s,** capitalizing on fatigue and errors to surge ahead 11-5. Salem went down in order in the bottom half to end the game.

The 12-inning contest was not only the longest by innings this year for Salem but also the longest by time for both team this year.

With the win, Delmarva secured at least a series split and will look to win the set outright Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Carilion Clinic Field as Salem aims to bounce back and force a Sunday rubber match.

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