The middle of Salem’s lineup produced early and often, helping the Sox rout the Mudcats 9-2 on Monday night at LewisGale Field. Stefan Welch, Blake Swihart, and Mookie Betts all scored twice, helping Salem create a pair of big innings to chase the Carolina starter Robert Whitenack in the third. The Sox plated three in the second and five more in the third, building an 8-0 advantage en route to the seven-run win.
The victory gives the Red Sox a game and a half lead over the Mudcats in pursuit of the final playoff spot. Since Myrtle Beach lost to Lynchburg, Salem also moved to within a game and a half of the first-place Pelicans in the race for the second-half Southern Division crown.
Salem opened the scoring with Swihart’s RBI triple to the right field corner driving home Welch, who walked to begin the second inning. After Swihart’s rocket, Betts hammered a single to center to make it 2-0. Three batters later, Matty Johnson’s bullet to first was misplayed by Jerrud Sabourin, allowing Betts to score on Carolina’s first error.
Two more Mudcats errors would loom large in the third inning, as Keury De La Cruz smoked a one-out triple to begin the rally. Welch received his second walk, and Swihart picked up his second RBI on his hard shot to first, misplayed again by Sabourin for another error. Up 4-0, Betts’ hustled to avoid a 1-6-3 double play, prolonging the inning for the bottom of Salem’s order. With men at the corners, David Chester worked a walk to load the bases. Then, Nick Natoli laced a three-run double into the right-center field gap to give the Sox a 7-0 lead. Once again, Johnson’s sharply hit grounder was booted by a Mudcats infielder, with Erik Gonzalez earning an error, and Natoli scored to make it 8-0.
With plenty of run support, Salem starter Heri Quevedo scattered six hits and three walks, pitching in and out of trouble in his five solid innings, in which he stranded seven baserunners and only allowed one run. Quevedo improved to 6-5 on the year, while Kyle Kraus earned the save in relief, dealing four innings with just one run allowed.
De La Cruz, Swihart, and Chester all finished with two-hit games, while Natoli drove in a season-high four runs.
The Sox and Mudcats will wrap up their four-game series on Tuesday night, with Mike Augliera making the start opposite Cole Cook. First pitch is slated for 7:05.
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Chris Graham
