Five-run seventh pushes Lynchburg past Salem, 8-4

The Lynchburg Hillcats scored five times in the seventh inning, vaulting them to an 8-4 victory over the Salem Red Sox on Wednesday night at LewisGale Field.

Lynchburg got on the board first, plating a run in each of the first three innings. LeVon Washington doubled to lead off the first and was sacrificed to third base. Clint Frazier drove him in with a groundout to second, putting the Hillcats ahead 1-0. In the second, Mike Papi walked before a single and one more walk loaded the bases. Bobby Ison knocked Papi in with a sacrifice fly to center, giving Lynchburg a 2-0 lead.

Dorssys Paulino worked a one-out walk in the third and moved to third on a Paul Hendrix double. Papi drove him in on a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 3-0.

All of Salem’s offense came in the fifth inning, as the Sox plated four runs with two outs. Deiner Lopez singled and stole second, but was thrown out at third attempting to advance on a pitch in the dirt for the second out. Yoilan Cerse worked a walk, followed by Wendell Rijo doing the same. Kevin Heller then blooped a single to shallow right, scoring Cerse from second. In the first pitch of the next at bat, Mario Martinez hammered a three-run homer over the left field wall, clearing the bases and giving the Red Sox a 4-3 lead.

Teddy Stankiewicz limited the damage early in the contest before coming back to retire 10 of the final 11 batters that he faced in his six-inning start. He was lifted in favor of German Taveras to begin the seventh.

Claudio Bautista doubled to lead off the seventh, followed by a sacrifice bunt attempt from Ison. Taveras fielded the ball and threw wildly to first, giving Ison second and allowing Bautista to score from second base.

After back-to-back walks loaded the bases, Frazier plated Ison with a grounder to third. Paulino then ripped a single to right center, scoring Washington. Two more runs crossed later in the inning on a triple from Papi, scoring Paulino and Hendrix for an 8-4 Hillcat advantage.

Stankiewicz went six innings with three runs allowed on four hits and five walks, but did not factor in the decision. Taveras (4-4) took the loss with five runs, two earned, against him on three hits and three walks in one inning. Justin Brantley (5-5) took the win for Lynchburg with 1.2 perfect innings of relief featuring three strikeouts.

Heller was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Martinez went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Cerse finished 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Salem dropped to 58-70 and 20-38 with the loss while Lynchburg improved to 67-62 and 34-25.

The Red Sox open a four-game series with the Potomac Nationals on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. with Kevin McAvoy (9-9, 4.08) opposing Austen Williams (4-4, 2.62). It’s Thirsty Thursday at LewisGale Field with beverage specials and live music before the game. Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.