Salem crushed three homers for the second straight night and exploded past Frederick 14-4 on Wednesday evening at Harry Grove Stadium.
Shannon Wilkerson and Travis Shaw belted back-to-back bombs in the top of the first to lift the Red Sox to a 3-0 lead, while Sean Coyle’s three-run jack in the sixth elevated the advantage to 12-1. Starter Yeiper Castillo permitted just one unearned run over six innings to earn his first Carolina League victory, giving the Red Sox their 50th triumph of the 2012 season.
Salem pounded Frederick starter Scott Copeland, chasing him from the action in the fourth inning. In three and two-thirds, Copeland surrendered eight runs (six earned) on ten hits. Reliever Eric Beaulac was not much better, yielding four runs on four hits and four walks in three innings, inspiring Keys skipper Orlando Gomez to use second baseman Travis Adair on the mound for the final two and two-thirds innings of the game. As it turned out, only allowing two runs in that span made Adair the cleanest Keys pitcher of the night.
Shaw finished a triple shy of the cycle and scored three times, while Xander Bogaerts joined Shaw with three hits, driving in a pair as well. Wilkerson and Coyle both finished with two hits, including a homer, and three RBI, helping the Red Sox score multiple runs in five different innings.
Salem led 3-0 after one, 5-0 after three, and 8-0 after four. The Keys plated an unearned run in the fifth before the Sox countered with four more in the sixth to surge ahead by 11, 12-1. Michael Almanzar added two hits and two RBI, while Heiker Meneses also contributed a multi-hit evening.
Manny Rivera surrendered three runs on two hits and five walks in an inning and two-thirds before Michael Gleason emerged for the final inning and a third to close out the Red Sox victory. All together, there were 366 pitches throw by both teams in the three hour and 24 minute game that started 17 minutes late as a result of late afternoon showers.
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Chris Graham
