Salem Red Sox blank Blue Rocks

Trey Ball turned in his third-straight quality start as the Salem Red Sox defeated the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 4-0 Monday night at LewisGale Field.

The first three games of the series between the Blue Rocks and the Red Sox were characterized by high-scoring games, but the finale was a pitcher’s duel between Ball and Ashton Goudeau.

Salem (27-10) broke through first in the bottom of the second, when Danny Mars singled ahead of a walk to Jordan Procyshen. Later in the inning, Bryan Hudson and Deiner Lopez strung together back-to-back singles to plate two runs and give the Sox a 2-0 advantage.

The Red Sox touched up Goudeau (2-4) in the fourth in a very similar way, with Mars and Procyshen reaching on singles, and scoring on a Hudson single and a Lopez sac fly, respectively.

The bottom five batters in the Salem lineup provided much of the offense, combining to go 7-for-15 with three walks, four runs and four RBIs.

Ball (2-0) was tremendous for the Red Sox on the mound, spinning one of the best outings of his career. The 2013 first-round pick dealt 7.0 shutout innings, scattering five hits and fanning six Blue Rocks (10-26). He needed just 91 pitches to toss the seven scoreless frames, establishing a new career-long outing.

The southpaw faced some adversity, but bore down to strand the bases loaded in the fifth and runners on second and third in the sixth. Monday’s start marked the second start of the season where Ball went at least six scoreless innings, and it was the first time that any Salem starter completed more than 6.0 innings this season.

Ben Taylor was called on to replace Ball, and tossed two scoreless frames to complete the shutout victory.

Winners of 16 of their last 18 games, the Red Sox continue to tie for the Minor League lead in wins and winning percentage.

The Red Sox hit the road to challenge the Lynchburg Hillcats in a three-game series starting Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm. Salem will send Matt Kent (2-2, 4.94) to the mound, countered by Mitch Brown (1-3, 5.24) of Lynchburg. Follow along with all the action on the Salem Red Sox Baseball Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:15 pm.