The highly touted Salem Red Sox offense provided plenty of fireworks on Thursday night, batting around the order twice in the first three innings of a 13-4 Opening Night rout of the Carolina Mudcats at LewisGale Field.
The Sox battered Mudcats starting pitcher Enderson Franco in the first inning, as the first four hitters of the game collected singles and plated five runs in the first frame. Top prospect Yoan Moncada got the party started with a hard-hit single before stealing second and later scoring on an Andrew Benintendi single. Nick Longhi, Rafael Devers, and Danny Mars followed in succession with RBI’s of their own to make it 4-0. Mike Meyers tacked on an RBI single to put Salem ahead 5-0.
Benintendi finished the game 4-5 with a double, triple, and three RBI. The four hits, which all came in the first five innings, are a new career high for Benintendi for a single game.
Back-to-back triples by Mauricio Dubon and Benintendi in the second inning padded the Red Sox lead, which was bloated again in the third when they sent 10 men to the plate scoring another five runs. Benintendi was again in the middle of things with an RBI double scoring Moncada who drove in a run earlier in the frame.
Meanwhile Red Sox starter Daniel McGrath pitched well with 11 runs of support in the first three innings, posting a quality start in his first outing of the season. McGrath lasted 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits – the biggest a two-run home run by Mudcats DH Sean Godfrey in the third inning.
McGrath induced weak contact from the Mudcats all night long as he was unfazed by the long breaks afforded to him by the strong Sox offense. He was relieved by German Taveras and Tyler Grover, who held down the fort over the remaining three innings to seal the victory.
The Red Sox added a pair of runs in the seventh inning off of Raymar Navarro thanks to a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from catcher Jordan Procyshen. The Sox backstop also had two doubles and a run scored in the game.
Getting the win for the Red Sox (1-0) was McGrath, who is now 1-0 on the year. He is undefeated in his last four decisions dating back to August 23, 2015. Franco, who only lasted 2+ innings allowing nine runs on 12 hits got tagged with the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season.
Salem pounded 18 hits on the night, with eight of the nine starters getting a hit, eight players recording at least one RBI, and eight players scoring at least one run.
The Red Sox continue their series with the Mudcats (0-1) on Friday night with a 7:05 pm matchup. It’s a Freedom Fridaypresented by Freedom First Credit Union, with a fireworks extravaganza after the game as part of the iHeart Radio Fireworks Series. The first 1,000 fans will receive a 2016 magnet schedule and a poster of a Salem Red Sox player. For tickets and more information, call (540) 389-3333 or click here.
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Chris Graham
