Lynchburg Hillcats starter Mitch Brown carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Salem Red Sox, leading his team to a 6-2 victory on Wednesdaynight at LewisGale Field.
Brown held Salem to just four walks through the first seven frames, logging the deepest no-hit bid against the Red Sox this season. In the first at-bat of the eighth, though, Jordan Betts smacked a double down the left field line for the Sox first hit, which in turn extended Betts’ hitting streak to seven games.
The Hillcats jumped out to an early lead with one in the top of the first inning when Nellie Rodriguez singled home Clint Frazier, who had doubled earlier in the frame.
Lynchburg earned one more run off of Salem starter Teddy Stankiewicz in the fourth inning. Alex Monsalve led off the frame with a double and was advanced to third on an Eric Haase groundout. With one out, Joe Sever drove home Monsalve with a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 2-0.
Stankiewicz (1-7) took the loss after allowing a pair of runs on five hits over five innings, accompanied by four strikeouts and a walk.
Insurance runs came in the sixth and the ninth for the Hillcats. Haase reached on a throwing error by Tzu-Wei Lin with two outs in the sixth and was knocked in one batter later by a Sever single. Three more crossed in the ninth inning on three RBI singles from Frazier, Rodriguez and Paul Hendrix.
But the evening belonged to Brown (2-6), who was lifted with one out recorded in the eighth inning. The 7.1 innings represented his longest outing of the season and he struck out five paired with four walks and the one hit against.
Both of the Red Sox runs came in the ninth inning against Robbie Aviles. With one out, Franklin Guzman lofted a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Wendell Rijo to score the Sox first run. One batter later, Betts doubled off the center field wall and knocked in Jake Romanski. The rally ended there however with Salem falling 6-2.
Salem was out-hit 14-4 the day after besting Lynchburg 26-6 in the hit column while sweeping a doubleheader. The Sox fell to 30-28 with the loss while Lynchburg improved to 28-31.
The series will conclude Thursday night with a 7:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch. Salem will send Kevin McAvoy (4-4, 3.54) to the hill opposed by Dace Kime (1-2, 5.26) for Lynchburg. It’s a Thirsty Thursday at LewisGale Field, featuring discounted beverages. 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
