Sox Drop Series Opener to Carolina 3-0
Published on August 19, 2025 under Carolina League (CarL)
Salem Red Sox News Release
SALEM, V.a. - Amidst a great day by their pitching staff, the Salem Red Sox (47-66, 21-28) fell to the Carolina Mudcats (63-47, 27-19) Tuesday night, 3-0, in game one of Salem's penultimate home series in 2025.
Salem faced early pressure when Carolina scored two of its three runs in the very first half inning. Mudcats' designated hitter Handelfry Encarnacion opened the scoring when he smacked a one-run double to score shortstop Brady Ebel.
On the next batter, Carolina right fielder Jose Anderson reached on an error by Yoeilin Cespedes that gave the visitors an unearned run - but Cespedes acted quickly on the play to keep the Salem deficit at two.
As Anderson's grounder deflected off of Cespedes' glove, Encarnacion rounded third and looked to score. Céspedes picked up the baseball in shallow center-field and threw out Encarnacion at home to end the inning.
Trailing early, the Red Sox struggled offensively against Carolina right-hander Melvin Hernandez. Hernandez pitched the first seven innings scoreless against Salem, lowering his ERA to a Carolina League-low 2.13.
But while Hernandez was having success, so did Red Sox starter Alex Bouchard after finding himself in some first inning trouble. The right-hander and former Lehigh University Mountain Hawk retired nine of the final ten Mudcat batters he faced, exiting the game for right hander Jay Allmer with the score still reading 2-0. Bouchard left the game after pitching the opening four innings, conceding just a single earned run on three hits while striking out a pair of Carolina batters.
Carolina ended the scoring by again utilizing Encarnacion's lefty bat in the top of the sixth. After Josiah Ragsdale led off the inning with a single, Encarnacion scored the former Boston College Eagle with a one-run single.
A half inning later, Salem leadoff hitter Justin Gonzales looked like he gave the Red Sox a spark off of Hernandez. With two outs in the home half, Gonzales laced a fastball to right-center field, one-hopping the wall for a double to put a Red Sox batter in scoring position for the first time. Gonzales' double was his second in as many games and 20th on the season, good enough for the second most by a Salem batter this season behind Yoeilin Cespedes (23 doubles).
With the loss, Salem drops 7.5 games back of Carolina, who remains in first place of the Carolina League's North Division with 17 games to play. Red Sox fans can now turn their excitement to Wednesday's game two where right-hander Brady Tygart, who has yet to give up an earned run across three appearances, is expected to start for Salem across from Carolina southpaw Enderson Mercado.
Carolina League Stories from August 19, 2025
- Sox Drop Series Opener to Carolina 3-0 - Salem Red Sox
- Pelicans Rout RiverDogs 8-2 to Open Series - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Shorebirds Rally from Six Runs Down to Stun Cannon Ballers - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Guerrero Homers, Crawdads Fall in Extras 7-5 - Hickory Crawdads
- Pelicans Take Opener in Long Night for 'Dogs Bullpen - Charleston RiverDogs
- Fireflies Draw Five Walks in Ninth to Win 3-2 - Columbia Fireflies
- Hernandez Gem Lifts Mudcats to Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.19 at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Adamczewski Promoted to Wisconsin; Ebel Added from ACL Brewers; Fowler Added from Nashville; Meneses to ACL Brewers - Carolina Mudcats
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