The Winston-Salem Dash got all of their offense in two innings and never trailed as they beat the Salem Red Sox 6-5 on Sundayevening at BB&T Ballpark.
The Dash darted out in front early with two runs in the first inning. Adam Engel led off with a single and was then driven in by a Jake Peter triple. Trey Michalczewski then knocked in Peter with a groundout to make it 2-0 Winston-Salem.
Kevin McAvoy settled down after that, cruising through five innings. He hit a speed bump in the sixth however and allowed the first four Dash batters to reach, three via the walk. McAvoy walked Cleuluis Rondon with the bases loaded, scoring Omar Narvaez. Rondon would be the last batter McAvoy would face, as he was replaced by Williams Jerez. All three inherited runners would score thanks to a two-RBI single by TJ Williams and a double play ball from Adam Engel that knocked in one. After six the Dash led 6-0.
McAvoy (4-6) was tagged with the loss thanks to six runs against him on seven hits over five-plus innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Salem wiggled back into contention with a rally in the seventh. Jordan Betts smacked a two-run double, scoring Kevin Heller and Forrestt Allday for Salem’s first runs of the day. Betts later scored on an RBI groundout from Deiner Lopez that moved Jordan Weems to third. Peter Tago then delivered a wild pitch that got away from Narvaez long enough for Weems to score and cut the deficit to 6-4.
The Red Sox pulled to within one in the top of the ninth when Betts lifted a sacrifice fly to center that scored Allday. Salem put the tying run on base with one out on a Weems single but Lopez bounced in to a double play that ended the game.
Brian Clark (3-2) picked up the win in his spot start with five innings of one-hit shutout ball. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. Betts went 1-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored and Weems was 2-for-4 with a run.
The Sox finish the first half at 38-32 while the Dash stand at 30-40 after the season’s first 70 games. After the three day All-Star break, Salem welcomes the Frederick Keys to LewisGale Field for a three game series beginning at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday. Aaron Wilkerson (3-0, 1.55) is scheduled to start for the Sox in the opener against the Keys’ Mikey O’Brien (0-1, 3.00). Fans 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
