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FredNats win opener at Salem, 6-2

Chris Graham

Fredericksburg Nationals The FredNats opened up their penultimate road trip with a 6-2 win over the Salem Red Sox on Tuesday.

Luke Young and Jose Ramirez traded zeroes through the first couple of innings, until Salem, the Low-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, got on the board in the home half of the third.

Young fell behind Albert Feliz with three straight out of the zone, when Felix clobbered the next pitch for a solo home run to give Salem the early 1-0 edge.

That lead did not last very long. In the very next half inning, Armando Cruz singled and Elijah Nunez walked. The Nats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, then executed a double steal, and a poor throw by Enderso Lira allowed Cruz to score and tie the game at 1-1.

After Elijah Green walked in his first game back with Fredericksburg, the Nats pulled another double steal. This time, Green was safe at second base while Nunez broke for the plate and scored without a throw to make it a 2-1 FredNat lead.

Leandro Emiliani tacked on another run with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Green.

In the top of the fifth, John McHenry opened it up with a walk, then moved to second on a Cruz single, took third base on a wild pitch, and finally scored on a sacrifice fly from Nunez to make it 4-1.

Salem got a run back in the home half of the sixth on a Johnfrank Salazar fielder’s choice that brought Natanael Yuten around, but Fredericksburg matched that run in the seventh. Cristhian Vaquero walked, then went to steal second base.

Enderso Lira’s throw to the bag sailed into center field and allowed Vaquero to take third, but then Jhostynxon Garcia’s throw from center was wide of third base, and Vaquero went on to score on the play to make it 5-2.

Cruz added one more run in the eighth on an RBI groundout that plated Marcus Brown, as Moises Diaz worked a scoreless ninth to secure a 6-2 win for the Nats.

Luke Young got the win, while Ramirez took the defeat.

Travis Sthele gets the ball for Fredericksburg tomorrow, against Elvis Soto.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].