The visitors from Frederick scored three runs in the top of the ninth against Nate Striz, transforming a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 victory to avoid being swept by the Salem Red Sox on Sunday afternoon. Following Christian Walker’s leadoff single, Zane Chavez doubled into the left-center field gap to tie it up. Three batters later, with runners on second and third and two outs, Travis Adair’s swinging bunt up the first base line resulted in the go-ahead infield RBI single, as Striz slipped in pursuit of the slow roller. Steve Bumbry added another RBI single to give the Keys a two run lead, and while the Sox put the tying runs aboard in the last of the ninth, Salem came up empty against reliever Marcel Prado.
It was the second straight series that saw the Red Sox sitting three outs away from a three-game sweep, only to fall short and settle for two out of three. Salem trailed 3-0 in the fourth inning, but rallied to tie the game against starter Eduardo Rodriguez. Henry Ramos and Carson Blair each delivered hits with the bases loaded to even the score, and the Red Sox surged in front in the last of the fifth when Garin Cecchini singled home Sean Coyle with two outs. Up 4-3 after five, the lead only stood tall until the ninth.
Frederick’s early advantage came thanks to a slew of singles against Salem starter Mike Augliera. Four straight singles in the first conspired to give the Keys a 1-0 lead, with Allan de San Miguel driving in Jerome Pena with the bases loaded. But Augliera induced a 4-6-3 double play off Johnny Ruettiger’s bat to avert further difficulty.
In the top of the fourth, Bumbry blasted a two-run homer, the first dinger that Augliera had surrendered all season, giving the Keys a 3-0 lead. And the advantage felt like 30-0 because Rodriguez had not allowed a hit through his first three frames on the hill.
Rodriguez ended up allowing four runs on six hits over seven innings, with all the hits and runs against him coming in the fourth and fifth. Both Rodriguez and Augliera ended up with no-decisions, with Prado earning the victory and Striz suffering the loss. Augliera scattered 10 hits in five innings, give up just three runs.
Walker and Chavez both finished with three hits for Frederick, while Matty Johnson and Carson Blair delivered multi-hit performances for the Sox. The league’s top hitter, Garin Cecchini, went 1-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored, and a HBP.
Salem will enjoy a day off on Monday before embarking on a four-week stretch of 29 games in 27 days to finish the first half of the season. The homestand at LewisGale Field continues on Tuesday night, with Winston-Salem arriving to town. William Cuevas will square off against Chris Bassitt in the series opener, slated for 7:05.
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