The Salem Red Sox bullpen surrendered five runs on Tuesday night at LewisGale Field and for the second straight night the Red Sox were defeated by the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 7-4.
Salem took the lead in the first inning when they plated a pair on hits from their first four batters. After Manuel Margot led off with a double, he was knocked in by a Forrestt Allday double. Allday was thrown out trying to steal third two pitches before Sam Travis blasted a triple. One batter later, Anuery Tavarez singled home Travis to make it 2-0 Red Sox.
The Pelicans quickly countered with a two-run blast in the top of the second inning from Ben Carhart against Salem starter Daniel McGrath. The southpaw didn’t factor in the decision, lasting four innings, surrendering two runs on three hits.
Jorge Marban replaced McGrath in the fifth and the Pelicans tagged him for a run with an RBI single from Billy McKinney to take the lead. Salem would answer with a pair of runs in the last of the sixth on three consecutive singles from Wendell Rijo, Tzu-Wei Lin and Jordan Betts. The Red Sox had the bases loaded with just one out, but failed to capitalize with a huge inning. Salem stranded a season-high 11 baserunners on Tuesday night.
The missed opportunity loomed large an inning later when Myrtle Beach struck for four runs in the top of the seventh. Two errors from the Red Sox infield contributed to the decisive frame and the Pelicans chased Marban with just one out in the inning.
James Pugliese picked up the win for the Pelicans, tossing 2.2 innings in relief. Pugliese (1-0) struck out a pair and allowed only one hit. Marban (0-1) was labeled the losing pitcher; he gave up five runs (one earned) and walked four over his 2.1 innings pitched.
The homestand concludes Wednesday morning with the finale of the three-game series with the Pelicans. First pitch is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. for Baseball in Education day at LewisGale Field. Jake Dahlstrand (2-0, 1.50) will be opposed by Jonathan Martinez (0-0, 1.50) as the Red Sox try to avoid being swept for the first time in 2015.
Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM WGMN ESPN Roanoke, on salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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Chris Graham
