The Red Sox bats backed up Luis Diaz in his Carolina League debut, as Salem registered a season-high 18 hits to roll past the Pelicans 10-3 on Thursday night in Myrtle Beach. The Sox scored three times in three different innings, with six different individuals in Salem’s lineup finishing with multi-hit performances. Mookie Betts led the way with his first four hit game at the Advanced-A level, and Diaz tasted victory in his premier start in a Salem jersey.
An unearned run dropped the Sox to a 1-0 deficit in the first, but Salem quickly countered in the top of the second. Blake Swihart ripped a leadoff double and Betts singled him home to even the score at one. In the top of the third, Salem surged in front on Henry Ramos’ RBI double, which preceded a Keury De La Cruz RBI double and another two-base knock from Betts to put the Sox ahead 4-1.
The Pelicans scratched their way back to within a run by scoring single tallies in the third and fourth innings, but up 4-3, the Sox broke it open with a clutch two-out rally in the sixth. Matty Johnson tripled, Ramos took a hit-by-pitch, and De La Cruz crushed his second double of the night to drive in a pair. Pelicans starter Nick McBride departed after De La Cruz’ extra-base hit, only to watch him score on Stefan Welch’s double off Josh McElwee one batter later, boosting the Sox to a 7-3 advantage.
In the top of the ninth, the Sox delivered the knock-out blow, as four of the first five hitters in the frame registered hits against Pelicans reliever Randol Rojas. Swihart led off with his second double, and Betts moved him to third with another single, his fourth hit of the night. Matt Gedman singled home Swihart, and two batters later, Nick Natoli singled home Betts. Two hitters after that, Ramos lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Salem’s tenth and final tally.
Betts finished 4-for-5 with two RBI, while De La Cruz went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI. Welch added three hits, and Ramos and Swihart each contributed two doubles. As a team, the Sox produced eight doubles and one triple along with nine singles, accumulating 18 hits overall, three more than the previous season high, which was accomplished five times.
On the mound, Diaz permitted three runs (two earned) on six hits over six innings, earning the victory in his debut. Matt Price tossed a perfect seventh and Nefi Ogando retired all six batters he faced over the final two frames. All together, the trio of hurlers combined to set down the final 14 Pelican batters in the ballgame.
The win brought the Red Sox within a half-game of the first-place Pelicans heading into the pivotal series finale rubber match on Friday. Salem remained three games ahead of Carolina in pursuit of the final playoff spot, shrinking the magic number to qualify for the postseason to nine with 11 games left. This means that any combination of Red Sox wins and Mudcat losses that equals nine would give Salem its first playoff berth since 2009.
Kyle Stroup gets the ball in Friday night’s series finale, while Myrtle Beach counters with Chi Chi Gonzalez. First pitch is scheduled for7:05.
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Chris Graham
