Salem Red Sox, Frederick Keys split twin bill

The Salem Red Sox came from behind to defeat the Frederick Keys 3-1 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday night at LewisGale Field.

Frederick won the opening game of the bargain bill, 6-4.

Frederick (66-66, 30-32) took the lead in the top of the second when Aderlin Rodriguez hit a solo home run against Mario Alcantara to jump out in front 1-0.

The Red Sox (82-49, 39-23) wasted no time striking back against Austin Urban (2-3). Ben Moore singled to score Jose Sermo with one out, and two batters later, Joseph Monge delivered a two-run single plating Jordan Betts and Deiner Lopez, handing Salem a 3-1 lead.

Alcantara allowed just one run on three hits in his four innings of work, walking five batters but also striking out five. Since he did not go the requisite five innings, he could not qualify for the win, despite leaving with the lead in hand.

Jeffry Fernandez (2-0) relieved Alcantara and tossed three hitless frames out of the bullpen, facing just two over the minimum. He worked around a pair of walks in the seventh inning thanks to a double play.

With the win, the Red Sox collected their 82^nd victory of the season, the third-most in franchise history. Salem also extended a new record for most home wins in a season in the Red Sox era (2009-present), with 44.

Salem collected just six hits in the game, and Rafael Devers was the lone Red Sox player with multiple hits, finishing 3-for-3 with a stolen base.

 

Game 1: Frederick holds off late rally in win

The Frederick Keys fended off a late charge by the Salem Red Sox to score a 6-4 victory in game one of a doubleheader Saturday evening at LewisGale Field.

Frederick (66-65, 30-31) broke through against Salem starter Anyelo Leclerc in the top of the fourth inning, when a Rafael Devers error on a Yermin Mercedes ground ball scored Austin Wynns. Steve Wilkerson plated Mercedes two batters later with a single, giving the Keys a 2-0 lead.

Leclerc (3-3) completed five innings for Salem, yielding two runs (one earned) on four hits, walking two and striking out one.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox (81-49, 38-23) struck against Lucas Long, cutting the deficit to 2-1. With two outs, Jayce Ray and Jordan Procyshen laced back-to-back doubles producing the run. Ray finished the opener 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, and extended his reached base streak to 23 games, tying Andrew Benintendi for the longest streak of the year for a Salem player.

Procyshen also had a productive game at the plate, finishing with three hits in as many at-bats with a double and an RBI. The catcher has hits in 13 of his last 15 games played, during which he is hitting .350 (20-for-57).

Simon Mercedes relieved Leclerc and worked around a jam to strand two runners on base in the sixth. In the seventh, Mercedes allowed four runs with two outs after a two-run single from Yermin Mercedes and a two-run home run by Jomar Reyes to extend a 6-1 advantage.

Long (7-6) was removed after five effective innings in favor of Garrett Cortright, who retired the Red Sox without trouble in the sixth.

In the top of the seventh against Cortright, Procyshen and Jose Sermo led off with back-to-back singles, and scored on a Deiner Lopez double. Devers laced a two-out opposite-field single, but Cortright was able to lock down his seventh save of the season.