Sports stats



CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Salem Red Sox Game Notes

May 18, 2013 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


Winners of three of their last four games, the Salem Sox face Frederick tonight at LewisGale Field... First pitch at 6:05...

Payback: Up until Friday night, Salem had beaten every team in the league except for Frederick. The Keys swept the Sox in the season's opening series, with Salem mustering only four runs on 15 hits over the entire series. In addition, the Keys were riding high upon arrival to town, having delivered their best offensive performance of the season on Thursday night in Lynchburg. But it was all Sox on Friday, with Salem registering season highs in runs, hits, and extra-base hits in the 10-2 rout. Five Red Sox delivered multiple hits in the 15-hit explosion. Bizarrely, Frederick actually had baserunners in more innings than Salem, only going 1-2-3 one time, but the Keys left 11 on base and Salem's three pitchers-Kyle Stroup, Chris Balcom-Miller, and Nate Striz-all worked well to escape situations.

No Signs of Rust: After missing the previous two games following a rolled ankle on Tuesday night, the league's #1 hitter picked up right where he left off. Garin Cecchini went 3-for-5 with a walk and two RBI on Salem's Friday victory, raising his league-best batting average to .378. His .473 OBP and his .669 slugging percentage are both tops in the league too, as is his total of 23 extra-base hits. Cecchini has reached base in 23 of his last 24 games, a stretch in which he's hitting .417 with a .533 OBP. Over the past month, Cecchini's on-base percentage is the best in all of minor league baseball. Only two other players have OBPs above .500 since April 18.

Coyle's Catharsis: After mustering just one hit in his previous nine games, second-baseman Sean Coyle collected two singles, a walk, three runs, and stole three bases on Thursday night in Zebulon. This snapped 0-for-27 and 1-for-36 skids. On Friday, his offensive reemergence continued with three more hits, bringing his season average back up to .252. But Friday night also dropped Coyle to second in the league in the home run list, as Lynchburg's Robbie Hefflinger surpassed him with his tenth homer of the season.

Keury Connecting: Salem outfielder Keury De La Cruz went hitless (0-for-9) in the first two games of the road trip last week, but since then he's gone 10-for-24 (.417). He's riding a six-game hitting streak into Saturday night, his second-longest hitting streak of the season. From April 21-29, De La Cruz recorded an eight-game streak. Like many members of the Salem Sox, he has overcome a slow start and is beginning to heat up. Since starting the season 2-for-16, he has hit .274 in his last 33 games.

Double Digit Dynamos: Prior to Friday night, the Salem Sox were the only team in the league that had not scored at least 10 runs in a game this year. Although Salem broke through that barrier, a fact that remains true is that Salem still has the lowest season-high in runs; every other team has scored at least 11 once this season. In 2012, the Sox scored double digit runs on 12 different occasions, maxing out at 16 runs in a win over Potomac on June 28. While no one in the Carolina League surpassed 16 runs in a game last year, the Wilmington Blue Rocks have scored 18 once this season. The Blue Rocks pounded Frederick 18-5 in a seven-inning doubleheader game on May 11 at Harry Grove Stadium.

Check out the Salem Red Sox Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from May 18, 2013


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.

OurSports Central