The Salem Red Sox used a parade of extra-base hits in the ninth inning to sweep the Winston-Salem Dash, winning the Sunday afternoon contest, 3-1 at BB&T Ballpark.
Dedgar Jimenez of the Red Sox (7-4) and Spencer Adams of the Dash (3-8) locked horns early in a classic pitcher’s duel, with neither allowing a run in the first three innings.
The Sox broke through in the fourth against Adams, after third baseman Jordan Betts led off with a double, and then came home on an infield single from catcher David Sopilka. Betts was a thorn in the side of Dash pitching all afternoon, going 3-for-5 with the double and a run scored.
Jimenez lasted until the fifth before he bent, allowing a Dash tally when catcher Brett Austin doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from left fielder Mason Robbins. Jimenez would throw a season-high 6.0 innings, allowing just the one run on five hits while not walking or striking out a batter.
The bullpens took over for each team and were dominant. Jacob Morris threw 2.0 scoreless innings for the Dash, while Mario Alcantara (2-0) went 2.0 perfect frames for the Red Sox. Euclides Leyer of the Dash threw a perfect eighth inning, but ran into trouble in the ninth inning.
Leyer (0-1) surrendered a one-out single to Deiner Lopez, who immediately stole second and scored on a laser-shot ground-rule double by Yoan Moncada. Danny Mars followed with a ground-rule double of his own to score Moncada and put the Red Sox up 3-1. Mars was caught trying to steal third base for the second out, and Andrew Benintendi smacked his minor league-leading fifth triple of the season, but was stranded at third.
Jake Drehoff entered to pitch the ninth for the Red Sox and tossed a 1-2-3 inning to earn his second save of the season. Jimenez, Alcantara, and Drehoff combined to retire the final 15 Dash batters of the game.
For Salem, it marked their first sweep of the year and just the fifth time that an opponent has swept the Dash at BB&T Ballpark.
Salem hits the road and heads to Zebulon, N.C. to start a new three-game series with the Carolina Mudcats on Monday. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 7 pm. The Red Sox have not announced a starting pitcher for the series opener, while the Mudcats with throw lefty Ryan Lawlor (1-0, 2.00). Follow along with all the action on the Salem Red Sox Baseball Network.
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