Salem Red Sox bullpen faulters in loss to Lynchburg

The Salem Red Sox were unable to hold on to early lead, falling to the Lynchburg Hillcats, 7-4 Sunday afternoon at LewisGale Field.

The Red Sox (51-35, 8-9) struck first with a run in the bottom of the first against Lynchburg (55-32, 10-7) starter Luis Lugo. Deiner Lopez singled with one out and advanced to third on a Rafael Devers double. Nick Longhi grounded out to second base to plate Lopez and give Salem a 1-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the third, Joseph Monge led off with a triple against Lugo (5-4), and then came home to score on a balk. The lead was expanded to 4-0 in the fifth inning, when Longhi doubled in Devers, and then scored on a Mike Meyers single.

Lynchburg’s offense got off the ground in the top of the sixth, when Bobby Bradley struck his league-leading 16^th home run – a solo shot to centerfield – off Daniel McGrath. That was the final pitch for the southpaw, who went 5.1 innings, allowing just the one run on three hits, walking two and tying a season high with six strikeouts.

Jamie Callahan entered in relief and allowed two additional runs to score in the frame, as the Hillcats cut the deficit to 4-3.

In the top of the seventh, Yu-Cheng Chang laced an RBI single off Callahan (3-3) to score Anthony Santander and tie the game. Then a throwing error from Lopez on an infield hit by Mark Mathias scored Bradley to hand the Hillcats a 5-4 lead.

The ‘Cats tacked on against Bobby Poyner in the eighth, tallying a pair on a Santander double to open up a 7-4 gap between the clubs.

Cameron Hill replaced Lugo after he allowed a leadoff triple to Devers in the seventh, and earned a three-inning save, his third of the season. Devers finished 4-for-5 with a double, triple, run scored and was a home run shy of the cycle.

The Red Sox wrap up the home-and-home series with the Hillcats at LewisGale Field on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for7:05 pm. The Red Sox will throw southpaw Trey Ball (5-4, 3.36) while Lynchburg rolls with righty Mitch Brown (2-6, 5.52) For tickets and more information, call (540) 389-3333, or slide to www.salemsox.com/tickets.