Dash rally to knock off Salem Red Sox, 7-5

The Winston-Salem Dash scored six runs off of the Salem Red Sox bullpen in the final three innings and came from behind to beat Salem 7-5 on Tuesday night at LewisGale Field.

After plating three runs in the bottom of the sixth, Salem led 5-1 entering the seventh inning. Working in relief of Daniel McGrath, German Taveras surrendered three runs and four hits to the Dash in the seventh. With two on and two outs, Nolan Earley smacked a two-out triple into right-center, scoring Omar Narvaez and Cleuluis Rondon. The Dash kept the line moving with an Adam Engel single to cut the Red Sox lead to 5-4.

In the eighth, Trey Michalczewaki led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second when Austin Maddox slung a wild pitch past Jake Romanski. Chris Jacobs then drove him home with an RBI double to tie the game at five.

After a one-out single in the ninth, Engel cranked a go-ahead, two-run home run off Maddox (0-4) to give the Dash their first lead of the day at 7-5. Peter Tago worked around a two-out walk in the last of the ninth to preserve the comeback win for Winston-Salem.

Daniel McGrath was outstanding in six innings for the Red Sox, striking out nine batters with just one run on two hits against him. The nine strikeouts were a single-game high for both McGrath and the entire Red Sox pitching staff, besting the seven that the southpaw put up on April 26 against Carolina.

The Sox bats got to Dash starter Matt Heidenreich early with a two-out RBI double from Aneury Tavarez in the last of the second. Winston-Salem tied the game in the fourth on a Jacobs’ RBI single. The tie didn’t last long, however, as Mario Martinez walloped his third homer of the year leading off the last of the fifth to put Salem ahead 2-1.

A three-run sixth seemed to provide some cushion for Salem. The Sox notched five hits in the frame, a season-high for hits in an inning. With one out, Tzu-Wei Lin, Sam Travis and Kevin Heller recorded consecutive singles with Lin scoring on a wild pitch and Travis coming home on the Heller knock. Two batters later, Martinez brought home Heller with an RBI single to make it 5-1.

However, the bullpen could not hold the four-run advantage. Taveras was charged with allowing three runs on four hits in an inning of relief while Maddox took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits in two innings.

Heidenreich took a no-decision despite pitching into the eighth, allowing all five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Tago (1-0) did not allow a run or hit in two innings of relief.

The two squads will continue the series on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Ty Buttrey (2-0, 2.25) will look for his third win in as many starts for Salem against Andrew Wheeler (1-1, 2.65). Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.