Sports stats



CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Sox Win Third Straight Over Dash 8-5

August 26, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


Salem, VA (August 26, 2009) - Perhaps the Salem Sox are peaking at the right time. Or perhaps they just have Winston's number at Lewis-Gale Field. Either way, the Red Sox are within a half-game of the division lead with 13 to play following their 8-5 victory on Wednesday night over the Dash. Chih-Hsien Chiang cracked three doubles and drove in a pair of runs and the Red Sox used a pair of three-run innings in support of Eammon Portice, who found the winners' circle for the first time since June 30. Winston-Salem leapt to early leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but the Dash left the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth innings, squandering opportunities repeatedly as they dropped their fourth straight overall.

Portice tossed five strong innings, striking out seven, to improve to 7-7 on the season. After a winless July, Portice earned a victory in his final scheduled start in August to prevail for the first time in his last nine outings. He allowed single runs in each of the first two innings, but retired the final 10 batters he faced over the final three and a third frames to subdue to the Dash offense.

Winston starter Miguel Socolovich had a 2-1 lead after two and half, but the Red Sox converted a two-out rally in the last of the third. With two runners aboard, Brad Correll and Anthony Rizzo each drilled RBI singles to give Salem the lead. Then Chiang drilled the first of his three two-baggers to put the Sox up 4-2.

The Dash had nary a baserunner offensively before the Red Sox broke it open with three more in the fifth. With Wander Perez on the hill in relief, Salem began the inning with a similar story of three straight hits from Correll, Rizzo, and Chiang. Just like the third, the first two knocks were singles, Chiang belted another double, and Salem led 7-2 after Zach Borowiak doubled with two down in the frame. Borowiak joined Chiang with three hits in the ballgame to lead the Sox attack, the second-straight evening that Salem's #9 hitter went 3-4.

Although Winston-Salem scored one in the seventh on a Joe Persichina RBI groundout, Salem answered right back on Jon Hee's RBI single. With the score 8-3, the Dash received a two-run homer from Dale Mollenhauer off Chad Povich in the ninth to make it 8-5, but Jason Blackey replaced Povich with the bases loaded and struck out the final two batters off the ballgame to preserve the victory. Blackey earned his fourth save of the season, his first since April. Four Red Sox pitchers combined to strike out 13 Dash batters in their third straight victory over their Southern-Division rivals. The Red Sox are now 7-2 against Winston at Lewis-Gale Field this season.

Salem aims to ascend into first place as they seek a sweep of the Dash on Thursday night in the series finale. Stephen Fife looks to rebound from his rough outing in Woodbridge from last Friday night against Winston's Jacob Rasner. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

Check out the Salem Red Sox Statistics



Carolina League Stories from August 26, 2009


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