The Salem Red Sox scored in the bottom of the first inning and never trailed, shutting out the Winston-Salem Dash 2-0 for their second-straight winon Sunday afternoon at LewisGale Field.
Salem got a strong outing from Trey Ball who pitched in to the sixth inning and did not allow a run. Ball (3-4) struck out two and scattered five hits and three walks over 5.1 innings pitched, lowering his ERA to 4.75.
Salem started things with a bang offensively. Cole Sturgeon legged out an infield single in the first at-bat of the bottom of the first and Tzu-Wei Lin quickly cashed in. Lin smacked a triple to right field, driving in Sturgeon to give Salem a 1-0 lead.
The Red Sox worked some small ball in the third for the game’s second run. Jose Vinicio led off the home half with a double and was sacrificed to third by a Sturgeon bunt. Lin then lofted a fly into right that Keenyn Walker camped underneath. Vinicio tagged from third and scampered home as Walker unleashed a frozen rope to Ryan Plourde at home plate. Vinicio slid wide toward the third base line and reached his hand out to touch home plate while evading Plourde’s tag, pushing Salem’s lead to 2-0.
James Dykstra lasted five innings in his first start following a three-week stint on the disabled list for Winston-Salem. Dykstra (3-2) surrendered two runs on six hits, striking out two.
Chandler Shepherd relieved Ball with one out and two runners on in the sixth. Shepherd got the next two batter en route to a 3.2-inning save. In his first professional save, Shepherd retired 11 of the 12 batters he faced, allowing only one base hit.
The shutout was the fifth time in 2015 that Red Sox pitchers have blanked the opposition. Dating back to the first inning of Saturday’s 4-3 win, Salem’s pitching staff has delivered 17.1 consecutive scoreless innings.
The Red Sox improved to 22-22 with the win and the Dash dropped down to 18-26.The homestand concludes Monday afternoon with a scheduled first pitch at 1:05 p.m. The Red Sox send Teddy Stankiewicz (0-5, 4.14) to the mound and the Dash will counter with Jace Fry (1-6, 3.35). Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online on salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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Chris Graham
