Salem Red Sox pound out 14 hits in win over Keys

The Salem Red Sox pounded out 14 hits and got three RBIs from Andrew Benintendi as they defeated the Frederick Keys in the opening game of a three-game series Monday night at LewisGale Field, 5-1.

Sox starting pitcher Ben Taylor was terrific in his Salem debut, blanking the Keys through the first three innings.  Frederick starter Tanner Chleborad matched wits with Taylor, shutting out the Sox in the first third of the game.

The Keys (2-3) broke through in the fourth inning, as Steve Wilkerson led the inning off with a triple to right field, and scored on an Aderlin Rodriguez groundout. That was the lone blemish against Taylor, who struck out five and walked one in his 4.0 innings of work.

In the fifth frame, the Red Sox (3-2) answered back against reliever Luis Gonzalez, scoring two runs. Back-to-back singles to start the inning by Bryan Hudson and David Sopilka yielded the tallies after an RBI groundout from Mauricio Dubon and an RBI single from Benintendi.

The Sox added insurance runs in the seventh inning thanks to a two-run triple from Benintendi. who later scored on a wild pitch by David Richardson. For Benintendi, the triple was his third of the season, tied for the most in all of Minor League Baseball with Mikie Mahtook of the Triple-A Durham Bulls.

Taylor gave way to the Salem bullpen, which continued its streak of solid work. Newcomer Adam Lau pitched 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out three; while Yankory Pimentel closed out the game with 3.0 hitless stanzas.

Lau (1-0) got the win for the Red Sox after being transferred to the team earlier in the day from extended spring training. Gonzalez (0-1) got tagged with the loss for Frederick, while Pimentel recorded his first save of the season.

The series with the Keys continues Tuesday night at LewisGale Field with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm. Lefty Dedgar Jimenez will make his season debut for the Red Sox, while Mitch Horacek goes for the Keys. For tickets and more information, call (540) 389-3333 or slide to www.salemsox.com/tickets.