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CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Red Sox Game Notes for August 9

August 9, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


Scoring First? Not So Much: After scoring first only 22 times in 69 games in the first half, the Sox began the second half scoring the first run in 14 of the first 23 games. But the trend has slipped away over the last 17 game stretch, in which the Sox have only scored first four times and have gone 4-13. on Saturday night at Grainger Stadium. The Indians' pitching staff shined again with a quartet of arms that combined to strike out 11 and earn Kinston its fifth con- secutive win. For the second straight evening, Kinston's bats erupted in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide separation and pace the Tribe the rest of the way. In three games this series, the Indians have outscored the Red Sox 18-2. Salem starter Eammon Portice had trouble commanding his fastball early, but limited the Indians to one first-inning tally after the bases were loaded with nobody out. He walked three in the first but found his stride through the next four innings, striking out five and only allowing two runs on four hits through his five in- nings on the mound. Kinston's Doug Pickens drove in both runs against Portice, belting a sac fly in the first and cracking a two out RBI single in the third.

Trailing 2-0, Salem took advantage of their only leadoff hit of the ballgame in the fifth. Aaron Reza's infield single opened the frame off Kinston reliever Jona- than Holt. Negron smashed a ground ball past the lunging third baseman to send Reza to second and put the tying runners aboard. Following a pop-up and a strike out, Tim Federowicz came through with a grounder back up the middle to plate Reza and cut the deficit in half. Fed- erowicz finished the game with two of Salem's five hits, the lone Sock to register a multi-hit ballgame. Following the RBI single, Mike Jones popped up to end the inning.

Little did Salem know at the time that they would be bereft of baserunners the rest of the way. Chen- Chang Lee and David Roberts each tossed two perfect innings, retiring 12 straight Red Sox over the final four frames.

Still a 2-1 ballgame heading to the bottom of the sixth, Kyle Fernandes relieved Portice and struggled mightily, yielding five runs on six singles, one walk, and one error by shortstop Kris Negron. Though Fernandes struck out the final two batters to strand a couple runners, the one-run gap had transformed to six and the Indians were on their way to beating Salem for the third straight night.

Filling in for the promoted Lonnie Chisenhall in the third spot in the batting order, Cord Phelps went 3-4 with an RBI. Tim Fedroff and Doug Pickens each finisished 2-3, helping to pace the Kinston offense that totaled 11 hits. Neither team recorded an extra base-hit, but Kinston capitalized on their opportunities, going 7-13 with runners in scoring position.

Salem Gearing Up to Face Old Friend: Following a trade- deadline blockbuster, former Salem righthander Bryan Price will pitch against his old mates on Sunday at Grainger Sta- dium. Price joined pitchers Justin Masterson and Nick Ha- gadone in a package for Indians first-baseman/catcher Vic- tor Martinez. In 11 starts for Salem, Price went 1-6 with a 6.54 ERA. He made eight starts for Low-A Greenville to begin the year, going 3-2 with a 2.45 ERA. Price pitched six strong innings and earned a victory in his first outing for the Indi- ans. He received two grand slams as part of a 12-run sixth inning as Kinston exploded offensively to give Price an over- load of run support.

More Gory Details: The offensive doldrums that the Red Sox are currently experiencing have derailed some decent pitch- ing performances and disallowed Salem from capitalizing on opportunities. The Red Sox have just one extra-base hit in their last 35 innings and many key cogs in the lineup are en- trenched in rough slumps. The five players who have played five straight games have combined to hit .211 over that stretch. Mike Jones and Che-Hsuan Lin are 4-35 in last 5.

Slumping Sox: With just one win in the last 13 ballgames, Salem's offense has only compiled 29 runs in the last 13 con- tests. Eight of those runs were scored in the lone victory, meaning in Salem's last 12 losses they have scored a total of 21 runs. In three games against Kinston, the Red Sox have two runs, scored by the only two batters who have leadoff base hits so far in the series. Salem has hit .220 over the last 10 with just one home run. With just 49 homers for the year, the Red Sox have the fewest dingers in the Carolina League.

July Recap: Salem pitched to a 2.96 ERA in July, but struggled offensively late in the month to finish 12-16. Seth Garrison led the Red Sox with four wins and a 1.42 ERA in six starts, while Derrick Loop went six-for-six in save opportunities and did not allow a run in nine appearances. Daniel Nava hit .347 with 12 extra base hits in 20 games played in July, while Kris Negron played every game and hit .306. Salem's team ERA was second best to Wilmington (2.40) in the CL for July.

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Carolina League Stories from August 9, 2009


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