The Salem Red Sox out-hit the Lynchburg Hillcats by a combined total of 26-6 and swept Tuesday’s doubleheader at Lynchburg City Stadium, taking game one 12-0 and game two 3-2 in eight innings.
In game one, the Sox wasted no time getting on the board, loading the bases with two outs and pushing across a run on a Jake Romanski RBI walk. Franklin Guzman then crushed a Luis Lugo offering over the left field wall for a grand slam. It was Salem’s first slam of the season and its first since May 8, 2014. Guzman’s first grand slam since August 14, 2013 gave the Sox a 5-0 lead.
Salem continued to get runs in a loud way throughout the game, as Tzu-Wei Lin smoked a triple to right-center plating Manuel Margot in the fourth. Lin went 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI in game one, becoming the first Red Sox batter with four hits in a game this season. Margot was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
The Red Sox tacked on three more in the fifth on a Jordan Betts blast for his second homer of the season. Betts set a Red Sox season-high with five RBI in the game, as two more came in the sixth on a two-run double, making it 11-0 Salem.
Trey Ball was spotted five runs before he took the hill in the first inning and did not waste the support. Ball (5-5) didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and struck out a career-high nine batters over 5.2 shutout innings. He allowed only two hits and lowered his ERA to 3.99.
Salem poked one more across in the top of the seventh when Rijo singled to drive in Lin. Rijo was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Lugo (3-4) was tagged for nine runs, three earned, over 4.1 innings. He gave up seven of Salem’s season-high 17 hits and walked five.
In game two, the Sox carried over momentum from the first contest by plating runs in the each of the first two innings. In the first, Lin scored on Rijo two-out single. Betts led off the second with a single and scored from second when Margot singled up the middle, also with two outs, to make it 2-0 Salem.
Lynchburg struck back for two in the bottom of the second. With two runners on, Juan De La Cruz grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored two after Rijo threw away the relay throw, tying the game at two.
Aaron Wilkerson settled down from that point on, retiring the last seven batters he faced. Wilkerson earned a no decision with five innings of two-hit ball, yielding two runs, one earned, while striking out three.
The game remained 2-2 through seven innings and moved in to extra frames. In the eighth, Lin, Travis and Martinez each singled to load the bases. With one out, Guzman skied a fly to right field that Clint Frazier camped under while Lin tagged at third. Frazier made the catch and unleashed a cannon as Lin sprinted home. The throw one-hopped to Alex Monsalve and Lin slid toward the third base side, acrobatically avoiding the tag to score the go-ahead run.
German Taveras was lights out in relief of Wilkerson, as he did not allow a baserunner until the bottom of the eighth. Ivan Castillo worked a walk and advanced to third before Paul Hendrix laced a two-out liner that Margot tracked down in right-center for the final out.
Taveras (2-0) picked up the win with three shutout innings and four strikeouts.
The Sox improved to 30-27 with their second doubleheader sweep of the season and dropped the Hillcats to 27-31. The four-game, three-day, two-city series continues Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Salem’s Teddy Stankiewicz (1-6, 4.10) will oppose Lynchburg’s Mitch Brown (1-6, 6.16). Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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