The Salem Red Sox offense woke up in a big way on Thursday night, pounding out a season-high 16 hits en route to a 13-3 thumping of the Carolina Mudcats in the home opener at LewisGale Field.
Production came from both ends of the order as leadoff man Manuel Margot finished 3-for-5 with a triple and three runs scored, and number nine hitter Forrestt Allday went 3-for-3 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored. Jake Romanski was the third member of the order with three knocks, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
The Mudcats scored first in the third inning when Johan Camargo crossed on an RBI groundout from Connor Oliver. Their lead would be short lived, however, as the Red Sox erupted in the bottom of the third, sending 10 batters to the plate. Salem rocked Carolina starter Lucas Sims for five runs on four hits in the frame. The big blow was an Oscar Tejeda two-run double to cap the onslaught. Sims (1-1) was chased from the game with just one out after allowing seven consecutive Red Sox to reach base.
That started a string of 10 straight runs for the Sox over the next three innings. Salem added two more in the fourth on an RBI triple from Margot and a throwing error. In the fifth, Wendell Rijo drove in a run and scored along with Tzu-Wei Lin on a two-run double from Allday.
After a Carolina run in the sixth, Sam Travis and Romanski notched RBI hits in the bottom of the frame to up the advantage to 12-1.
Romanski finished the scoring for Salem with an RBI double in the last of the eighth. Carolina would get a solo homer from Jacob Schrader in the top of the ninth to account for the final margin.
Jake Dahlstrand appeared for the second time in 2015, tossing a solid 6.0 innings with two runs against and four strikeouts. For the first time this season, Dahlstrand (2-0) surrendered a hit, yielding six to the Mudcats. A week after no-hitting Carolina, he gave up his first hit leading off the second.
But the night belonged to the Red Sox offense as every Salem batter had a hit in the ballgame, eight of the nine starters scored and six drove home at least one run. The 13 runs were almost as many as Salem scored in the entirety of the six-game road trip when they put up a combined total of 15.
The Red Sox improved to 3-4 on the season with the win as the Mudcats fell to 4-3. Game two of the four-game series is set for7:05 p.m. on Friday with gates opening at 6 p.m. at LewisGale Field. Trey Ball (0-1, 8.44) starts for Salem against Carolina’s Andrew Thurman (1-0, 0.00).
It’s the first Freedom Friday of the season at Salem Memorial Ballpark. The first 500 fans will receive a player poster and following the game, there will be a fireworks show courtesy of Freedom First Credit Union.
Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM WGMN ESPN Roanoke, on salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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Chris Graham
