The Salem Red Sox came from behind, erasing a three-run deficit to beat the Lynchburg Hillcats 5-3 on Thursday night at Lynchburg City Stadium.
Salem trailed 3-2 entering the eighth inning but got going quickly with a one-out triple from Yoilan Cerse on the 10th pitch of his at-bat. After Kevin Heller worked a four-pitch walk, the Sox executed a hit and run with Mario Martinez shooting a single through the hole at second, scoring Cerse and advancing Heller to third. Martinez’s base hit extended his hitting streak to season-high 11 games. Jordan Weems then served a single to left field, plating Heller for a 4-3 lead.
The Red Sox won a game that they trailed after the seventh inning for just the third time this season, with the previous two being extra inning contests. The first was a 6-3 11-inning victory over the Winston-Salem Dash on May 15 and the second a 3-2 10-inning win over the Frederick Keys on July 11.
The Hillcats did their damage over a span of two innings. Mike Papi led off the second but was thrown out at third on a LeVon Washington grounder. Dorssys Paulino blooped a singled to right-center with two outs in the inning that allowed Washington to score from second base, giving Lynchburg a 1-0 lead.
Lynchburg added to the lead in the third on a two-run homer from Clint Frazier. However, Lynchburg would only record one more hit against Salem starter Kevin McAvoy, who lasted six innings. McAvoy did not factor in the decision after allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts over six innings.
Salem began to chip away with a run in the fifth. Jordan Betts singled to lead off the inning and later scored when Mauricio Dubon poked one up the middle for an RBI single that cut the lead to 3-1.
The Red Sox second run was a loud one in the seventh. Franklin Guzman teed off on a Michael Peoples fastball and sent it over the scoreboard in left-center field for his fourth home run of the season. The drive cut the Lynchburg lead to 3-2.
Aaron Wilkerson (7-1) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts and earned the victory despite only throwing eight pitches.
After taking the lead in the eighth, Salem added an insurance run in the ninth on a Cerse infield single that drove home Jose Vinicio for a 5-3 lead. J.P. Feyereisen (0-1) blew a save and took the loss with two runs allowed on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Chandler Shepherd earned his second save by delivering two scoreless innings, working around two singles in the ninth inning. Cerse was 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored, Dubon went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Betts finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. Salem won its third straight game and secured the series victory by taking the first three of the five-game set.
The Red Sox now stand at 48-43 and 10-11 in the second half while Lynchburg is 42-48 and 9-11. The Red Sox and Hillcats will finish the two-city series with a pair in Salem on Friday and Saturday.
Friday’s contest will feature Salem’s Daniel McGrath (1-1, 1.59) opposing D.J. Brown (6-3, 3.95) for the Hillcats at 7:05 p.m. It’s NASCAR night at LewisGale Field as well as a Freedom Friday with a postgame fireworks show. 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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Chris Graham
