CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Salem Red Sox Game Notes

Published on May 3, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Cody Kukuk joins the Salem Red Sox and makes his Carolina League debut on the mound on Saturday night in Lynchburg... First pitch at 6:05...

One Way or Another: A day after delivering plenty of clutch hits in a come-from-behind 6-4 victory, the Red Sox could not buy a timely knock in Friday night's 7-2 setback in the Hill City. Salem scored first and last on Friday night, but went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and lost to Lynchburg for the first time in the last 10 meetings between the two squads. The Sox had been averaging seven runs scored per game in the previous 12, but only mustered a couple tallies on Friday evening, leaving eight runners on base for the game.

Driving to the Carolina League: With a good bit of roster movement in the past week, Salem has received some of Greenville's top talent as Red Sox reinforcement. Matt Gedman and David Chester were placed on the disabled list, and Salem picked up Tim Roberson and Kevin Mager. Today, with Brian Johnson earning a promotion to Double-A Portland, the Salem Sox receive Cody Kukuk, a southpaw who excelled in his first five starts of the year in the South Atlantic League. Kukuk went 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA for Greenville, permitting just five earned runs in 24 innings and holding opposing hitters to a .217 average. In 24 innings, Kukuk struck out 29.

Reed Runs: Second Baseman Reed Gragnani has been the centerpiece of Salem's offense in the last couple weeks, raising his batting average to a league-best mark of .391 with two more hits last night. In addition, Gragnani has scored seven runs in the last four games and 11 runs in the last seven games. The former UVA standout has recorded hits in 15 of his 18 games played, with multiple hits in 10 of those contests. The switch-hitter has produced against all pitchers, batting .333 against lefties and .404 against righties. His .391 clip is 27 points superior than Royce Bolinger's, who's #2 in the league.

April Anecdotes: For the sixth straight season, the Salem Red Sox completed April with a winning record! The Sox went 14-10 in April of 2014 after going 12-11 last year, 12-10 in 2012, 16-5 in 2011, 14-7 in 2010, and 11-10 in April of 2009. All together, since becoming a Red Sox affiliate, the Sox have gone 79-53, a .598 winning percentage in the first month of the season. The defending Carolina League Champs began 2014 with five consecutive wins, lost seven of their next eight, then won seven of the next eight before dropping two out of three against the Dash to finish the month on Monday.

Hitless, But Dauntless: Although Mookie Betts went 0-for-4 on Friday night, one precious walk allowed his remarkable streak of reaching base to continue! Betts has reached base in 23 straight games to begin the season for the Sea Dogs, and considering that he reached safely in the final 35 games of 2013 for the Salem Sox, including the playoffs, he has now recorded at least a hit or a walk in 58 consecutive games dating back to last August. In these 58 games between Salem and Portland, Betts is hitting .415 (93-for-224). In 22 games with the Sea Dogs, Betts is hitting .432 (40-for-97) with 15 extra-base hits, 11 walks, 10 steals, and only eight strikeouts. Betts has also helped the Sea Dogs win 15 of their first 24 games in the Eastern League.

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Carolina League Stories from May 3, 2014


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