FredNats walked off again, suffer series sweep to Sox

The Fredericksburg Nationals saw their losing streak reach seven on Sunday afternoon, falling 6-5 to the Salem Red Sox in 10 innings on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Gilberto Jiménez.

The FredNats rallied with three runs in the top of the ninth to take a brief 5-4 lead, but couldn’t close the door as they dropped their 12th road game in a row.

Two Salem infield errors netted the FredNats their first two runs, as Jacob Young began the game by reaching on a Matthew Lugo error and scored on an RBI single from Raudy Read. In the fourth, Read reached on an error before coming in on a sacrifice fly from Jaden Fein.

Salem answered back immediately in both innings, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on a Michael Cuevas wild pitch and tying the game 2-2 in the fourth on a Nicholas Northcut RBI single. Cuevas completed 6.0 innings, but left with a 4-2 deficit after allowing go-ahead solo homers to Nick Decker and Northcut in the sixth inning.

The FredNats managed just two hits through the first eight innings, but rallied against Jordan DiValerio in the ninth. Fein led off with a double and scored when Jake Boone reached on an error, bringing the deficit to 4-3. Young singled to put runners at first and second, and Darren Baker dropped down a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position. Onix Vega tied the game with an RBI single past a drawn-in infield, and Leandro Emiliani gave the FredNats a 5-4 lead with an RBI single of his own. DiValerio retired the next two batters to leave the bases loaded, preventing any further damage.

FredNats closer Cole Quintanilla (L, 0-2) came on for the bottom of the ninth, and got the first two outs quickly before Alex Erro kept the game alive with a double off the left field wall. Angel Maita then dropped a game-tying RBI single down the left field line to force extras.

Red Sox reliever Jacinto Arredondo (W, 2-2) retired the FredNats in order in the top of the tenth, keeping the automatic baserunner from scoring. Quintanilla got one out in the bottom half of the inning, but Jiménez lofted a fly ball just deep enough to score Ceddanne Rafaela from third base and win the game for the Red Sox.

The FredNats have Monday off before continuing their road trip in Salisbury against the Delmarva Shorebirds on Tuesday. First pitch from Perdue Stadium is scheduled for 7:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 6:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network.