With three runs already on the board when Mike McCarthy took the mound, the Salem Red Sox already had more than enough offense on Friday night.
McCarthy did not allow an earned run over six spectacular innings and Salem surpassed Carolina 8-2 in the series opener at Five County Stadium. Sean Coyle led the Red Sox offense with three hits and four RBI, helping to catapult the Sox to an 8-0 lead before the Mudcats broke up the shutout with an unearned run in the last of the sixth.
McCarthy matched a season high with six strikeouts and picked up the victory with six dominant innings. Now 1-1 in three starts with Salem, McCarthy allowed just one hit in his first five frames and permitted four hits overall. Michael Gleason allowed one run in two innings of relief, while Marco Duarte tossed a scoreless ninth to complete the victory.
Salem’s offense rallied for a trio of two-out runs in the top of the first, getting RBI singles from Drew Hedman and Coyle to lead 3-0 against Carolina starter Will Roberts. In the top of the third, the Red Sox poured on four more tallies, with Coyle’s two-run double highlighting the sequence. One inning later, the score became 8-0 when Brandon Jacobs’ sac fly brought home Adalberto Ibarra.
Coyle led Salem’s 12-hit barrage with a 3-for-5 performance, while Ibarra, Michael Almanzar, Hedman, and David Renfroe all registered two-hit nights. Hedman also drove in a pair for the Sox, who went 7-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Salem has now won 13 of 18 meetings against Carolina this year, with two more contests against the Mudcats on tap Saturday and Sunday before the Sox return to LewisGale Field for the final seven games of the season.
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Chris Graham
