On the strength of a 15-hit offensive surge, the Salem Red Sox beat the Potomac Nationals 11-3 on Saturday night at Pfitzner Stadium.
Forrestt Allday led off the first inning with a walk and advanced to third when Mauricio Dubon doubled. Kevin Heller then lifted a fly to right, deep enough for Allday to tag and score for a 1-0 Salem lead.
Potomac struck back in the home half of the first, taking the lead on one loud swing. Narciso Mesa singled and John Wooten blasted a two-run home run to left, giving the Nationals a 2-1 advantage.
The Potomac lead was short lived, however, as Salem sent nine men to the plate in the second inning. Mario Martinez and Jordan Betts each reached on errors and Danny Bethea singled to load the bases. Zach Kapstein shot a single to left to score Martinez then Dubon singled in Betts. Wendell Rijo followed Dubon with a bloop single to right, scoring Bethea putting the Red Sox up 4-2.
The Sox chased Potomac starter Ian Dickson with only one out in the second. Dickson (1-1) took the loss by allowing four runs, one earned, on five hits with one walk and a strikeout in 1.1 innings.
In the fourth, Allday reached on a one-out single and took third when Dubon singled behind him. With two outs in the frame, Heller bounced a soft grounder to third that Drew Ward fielded and threw high over Wooten’s head. Both Allday and Dubon scored on the play as Heller was granted an infield single and an extra base on the throwing error. When the dust settled, the Red Sox led 6-2.
Potomac’s final run scored in the bottom of the fourth. Zach Wright walked and later scored on an RBI double from Mesa, cutting the lead the 6-3. It remained 6-3 until the Sox hung a four-spot in the top of the eighth. Sturgeon earned an RBI with a bases loaded walk, Martinez singled in Allday, and Betts knocked in Sturgeon and Heller with a single, pushing the lead to 10-3. The Sox added one more in the ninth with Kapstein scoring on a Dubon groundout.
Daniel McGrath started for Salem and lasted four innings with three runs allowed on four walks and six hits with three strikeouts. Because he failed to pitch five innings, McGrath did not factor in the decision. Instead, Brandon Show (1-0) snagged the win with four shutout innings, striking out one with only two hits against. Show has not allowed a run in 17.1 innings over six appearances with the Red Sox.
Dubon was 3-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored, Allday went 2-for-4 with two walks and three runs scored and Kapstein was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. All nine Salem starters recorded a hit while eight players scored a run and seven drove home at least one run.
Salem improved to 53-54 and 15-22 in the second half while Potomac fell to 48-57 and 15-20. The Red Sox try for the sweepon Sunday at 6:05 p.m. with Ty Buttrey (7-4, 3.39) opposing Austen Williams (1-3, 3.48). 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
