The Salem Red Sox found clutch hitting in a 13-hit attack to cruise by the Carolina Mudcats 7-2 on Tuesday night at LewisGale Field.
The Mudcats led briefly in the contest, striking for a run in the top of the third inning when Johan Camargo tripled and scored on a Reed Harper sacrifice fly.
Salem wasn’t down for long, however, as they responded with a pair in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a two-out rally that began with a Jordan Betts walk. In the next at-bat, Jordan Procyshen worked a full count and slapped the payoff pitch to left field for a double that scored Betts, who was moving on the pitch. Jose Vinicio then guided a single to left in the next at-bat to score Procyshen, giving Salem a 2-1 lead.
The Red Sox grabbed some insurance in the fifth inning after they chased Carolina starter Andrew Waszak three batters in to the frame. Sean Furney came in to face Yoilan Cerse with one down and runners on first and second base. Cerse pounced on the first pitch and sent a three-run homer, his second of the year, over the left field wall for a 5-1 lead.
Waszak (5-6) took the loss with four runs allowed on seven hits and four walks over 4.1 innings pitched.
Carolina managed one more run off of Red Sox starter Ty Buttrey in the sixth inning when Dustin Peterson singled home Keith Curcio to cut the Salem lead to 5-2. Buttrey (7-2) was the winning pitcher after he allowed a pair of runs on five hits with four strikeouts in six innings.
Salem stretched the lead to five runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-RBI single from Forrestt Allday, who ended up going 3-for-5 with two RBI. Procyshen aided the offensive effort by going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI and Wendell Rijo turned in a 2-for-3 performance with a run and a walk. Tzu-Wei Lin and Vinicio added two hits apiece as well.
The Sox improved to 43-39 for the season and 5-7 in the second half with the win while the Mudcats dropped to 40-42 and 6-7, respectively. The second game of the three-game series is set for Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Salem will send Trey Ball (6-6, 3.50) out to oppose Carolina’s Seth Webster (3-5, 2.85). Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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Chris Graham
