Former Hokie Steve Bumbry shined in his most recent return to Southwest Virginia, finishing 2-5 with a two-run homer to help Frederick knock off Salem 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at LewisGale Field. Nick Haughian and Ryan Pressly were locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel through four innings, but Pressly lost his command with two outs in the fifth and unraveled, allowing five runs in five-plus innings. Haughian tossed six scoreless and allowed a pair in the seventh, but picked up his seventh win of the season with his second straight seven-inning performance.
Pressly appeared to be cruising with two outs in the fifth, having retired 16 of the first 19 batters up to that point. He had required just five pitches to record the first two outs of the top of the fifth, but his command betrayed him with a four-pitch walk to Bobby Stevens, Frederick’s number-nine hitter. One batter later, Bumbry belted a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence for his fifth Carolina League homer of the season, surging the Keys to a 2-0 lead. Back-to-back singles from Jonathan Schoop and Miguel Abreu led to another two-out tally that came across when Abreu stole second and the throw bounced off Derrik Gibson’s glove and into right-field.
Haughian held his serve by erasing the side in order in the last of the fifth, while Pressly remained erratic, walking Dale Mollenhauer and hitting Michael Flacco to begin the sixth before leaving the game. Reliever Chris Martin surrendered an RBI double and a fielder’s choice that allowed Pressly’s runs to score, giving Frederick a 5-0 lead after five and a half innings.
Salem broke up the shutout thanks to Alex Valdez’ two-run double in the last of the seventh, and the Sox inched within two when Miles Head’s RBI ground-out scored Bryce Brentz in the last of the ninth. Down 5-3, Valdez singled to bring the tying man to the plate, but David Mailman skied to left to end the game, clinching the 26th save of the season for Keys’ closer Sean Gleason.
Though Martin allowed the pair of inherited men to score, the righthander prolonged his personal scoreless innings streak to 14.1 since coming to the Carolina League.
Brentz and Valdez each mustered two hits for the Sox, with Brentz scoring twice and Valdez driving in a pair. Frederick was led by the top-third of the order, as the trio of Bumbry, Schoop, and Abreu each connected for two hits.
After winning 10 of the previous 13 through Monday, July 11, Salem has now dropped five straight to fall three and a half games behind the first place Kinston Indians. The Sox and Keys reunite on Monday in game two of their four-game series, with Stolmy Pimentel squaring off against Bobby Bundy at 7:05.
Share
Contributors
