The Salem Red Sox struck for five runs in the first two innings and cruised to a 6-3 victory over the Frederick Keys in the first game of the second half of the season on Thursday night at LewisGale Field.
Frederick jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first thanks to a Johnny Reuttiger RBI groundout, scoring Josh Hart, who had tripled to lead off the game.
The Red Sox answered promptly with two runs in the home half. Jose Vinicio led off with a double down the line and advanced to third on an error by pitcher Mikey O’Brien that allowed Tzu-Wei Lin to reach. A walk to Wendell Rijo loaded the bases with nobody out, but it took a two-out single from Yoilan Cerse to drive in a pair, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 advantage.
Salem tacked on three more in the third. With two on and none out, Vinicio laid down a sacrifice bunt that Anthony Caronia sailed out of play allowing Jordan Betts to score. Lin then drove home Jordan Weems with an RBI groundout before Mario Martinez mashed a two-out RBI double to right-center to open up a 5-1 lead.
The Keys got another run against Aaron Wilkerson in the third on a RBI single from Reuttiger, but the Salem starter breezed through the next three innings, retiring 10 of the 11 batters he faced. Wilkerson (4-0) reached the seventh inning for the first time all season, but gave up an RBI double to Conor Bierfeldt to end his outing. The righthander allowed three runs on seven hits in six-plus innings, striking out five against no walks.
Thanks in part to his rough start, O’Brien (0-2) lasted just four frames for the Keys. The Salem native gave up five runs, one earned, on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks. The Red Sox extended what was a three-run advantage to 6-2 in the fifth on an RBI double from Kevin Heller.
After the Keys got back to within 6-3 in the seventh, Chandler Shepherd and Austin Maddox set down nine of the final 10 Frederick batters to secure the win. Maddox worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to pick up his league-leading 10th save of the season.
With the win, Salem improved to 39-32 overall and 1-0 in the second half. Frederick fell to 32-39, 0-1 in the second half. The series continues on Fridaynight with another Freedom Friday at LewisGale Field. In addition to the customary postgame fireworks and player poster giveaway, the Mayberry Deputy will be making a special appearance. Ty Buttrey (5-1, 2.68) will start for the Sox against the Keys’ Chris Lee (2-2, 4.91). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.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
