CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Sox Slip up 7-5 to Wilmington Saturday

Published on June 2, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


SALEM, VA - The Salem Red Sox had multiple leads but couldn't maintain them Saturday night, falling just short of a fourth consecutive win as they lost 7-5 to the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Haley Toyota Field.

Salem (26-26) fell back to third place in the Northern Division in the loss, as they find themselves 1.5 games behind the division-leading Potomac Nationals. Wilmington (22-33) didn't lead until the ninth inning, and earned their first win at Haley Toyota Field in 2018, improving to 1-7 in Salem. The Red Sox gave their visitors plenty of opportunities for run-scoring, as Salem hurlers allowed seven walks, four hit batters, and two wild pitches in the game.

Salem opened the scoring in the bottom of the first against Wilmington starter Ofreidy Gomez (ND). Santiago Espinal led off the frame with a hot shot that glanced off the glove of third baseman Gabriel Cancel for a single. Brett Netzer hit a bouncer to third that Cancel booted into left field, allowing Espinal to reach third on the error. Gomez lost his composure after the error, and dealt a wild pitch that plated Espinal while Netzer sped to second base. With two outs, Bobby Dalbec hammered a double to deep center, scoring Netzer and giving the Sox a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Rocks got on the board in the top of the third against Salem starter Bryan Mata (ND). With one away, Mata plunked the speedy Nick Heath, who raced to second on a wild pitch. Cancel laced a single through the middle, which allowed Heath to zip home and cut the Salem lead to 2-1. The Sox threatened to expand their lead in both the third and fourth innings, loading the bases in each, but couldn't bring anybody around to score.

Wilmington got level in the top of the fifth inning. Oliver Nunez drew a leadoff walk from Mata, and moved to second on a groundout by Angelo Castellano. Heath singled Nunez to third before stealing second, and Cancel brought Nunez in on a groundout to short to tie the game at 2-2.

Salem surged back ahead in the bottom of the fifth against reliever Anthony Bender (W, 2-2). With one out, Dalbec sent the first pitch he saw soaring over the left field wall for his league-best 11th homer of the season. Jerry Downs followed him up by rocketing a triple to center, and he came in to score on a passed ball by catcher Chase Vallot. Jordan Wren then got a hold of a fastball, and sent it screaming over the wall in right-center for a solo homer. It was the first dinger of his professional career, and it extended Salem's lead to 5-2.

Wilmington earned a run back in the top of the sixth, as Mata plunked Meibrys Viloria with one away before Chase Vallot singled him to third base. New reliever Hunter Smith (H, 3) surrendered an RBI single through the left side to Chris DeVito, bringing home Viloria and trimming the lead to 5-3.

The Blue Rocks rose up once more in the top of the seventh. Smith gave up a leadoff single to Heath, who then swiped second. Cancel popped out to short, and Lee singled to left to advance Heath to third, though he was thrown out at second trying to stretch the single into a double. However, Smith plunked Kort Peterson and walked Viloria to load the bases before being yanked for righty Jared Oliver (BS, 1). The new reliever got ahead of Vallot 0-2, but missed with a slider that hit the batter to bring home Heath. With the bases still loaded and DeVito batting, Oliver uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Peterson to scamper home, tying the game at 5-5.

Wilmington finally took the lead in the top of the ninth against new reliever Durin O'Linger (L, 0-1), who walked Lee to lead off the inning. Peterson worked the count to 1-1 before smashing a fastball far beyond the right field wall for a two-run homer, putting the Blue Rocks ahead 7-5.

Mata surrendered three runs on three hits and three walks over 5.1 innings, striking out five. Smith gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 frames. Oliver gave up a walk, hit a batter, and dealt a wild pitch in 1.1 innings of work; he struck out one. O'Linger allowed two runs on one hit and two walks in his lone inning of action and recorded one strikeout.

The Sox will look to take the series victory in the rubber match Sunday afternoon, with righty Roniel Raudes toeing the slab for the Sox against Wilmington right-hander Gerson Garabito. First pitch from Haley Toyota Field is at 4:05 p.m., and the pregame show with Ben Gellman and Suzie Cool begins at 3:45 p.m. on the Red Sox broadcast network.

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Carolina League Stories from June 2, 2018


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