In front of 7,059 fans, the largest crowd in Salem Red Sox history, the Lynchburg Hillcats struck for a pair in the top of the first inning and never trailed as they beat the Sox 4-1 on Friday night at LewisGale Field.
The 7,059 fans marked the third-largest crowd in LewisGale Field history and just the fourth crowd in the 20-year history of the ballpark to exceed 7,000 fans. The previous record was 6,490 fans on August 16, 2014.
Luigi Rodriguez started things with a bang for Lynchburg, doubling on the first pitch of the game from Daniel McGrath. Yhoxian Medina reached on an error in the next at-bat and the pair executed a double steal. Dorssys Paulino lofted a two-out single to left that scored both Rodriguez and Medina, giving Lynchburg a 2-0 lead.
The Hillcats cushioned their advantage in the second, with Claudio Bautista leading off with a single. Rodriguez knocked him in two batters later by cranking his second double in as many innings, extending the Lynchburg lead to 3-0.
McGrath settled down through the next two innings, retiring eight of nine over a stretch from the second to the fourth. He ran in to trouble to start the fifth, though, with Nellie Rodriguez tripling off the wall in center. Paul Hendrix grounded a single up the middle in the ensuing at bat, extending the lead to 4-0.
McGrath (1-2) was tagged with four runs, two earned, on nine hits over four-plus innings. He walked one and struck out four in his second start off of the disabled list.
Salem’s only run came via a big drive from Mario Martinez, who launched his fourth home run of the season in a ten-pitch at bat off of DJ Brown to lead off the seventh. Martinez went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest active streak in the Carolina League.
Brown (7-3) allowed one run in six-plus innings with seven hits against and four strikeouts. He improved to 3-0 in four appearances, three starts, against the Red Sox with only two runs allowed in 23 total innings.
Salem brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth but failed to put a run on the board as Yoilan Cerse flied out to center to end the threat. Forrestt Allday was 1-for-3 with a walk and Brandon Show worked four scoreless innings in relief of McGrath, allowing only one hit with four strikeouts.
The Red Sox loss snapped a three-game winning streak and dropped their record to 48-44 overall and 10-12 in the second half. Lynchburg is now 9-0 in nine games at LewisGale Field and stands at 43-48 and 10-11.
The series concludes Saturday night with Aaron Wilkerson (7-1, 2.84) opposing Luis Lugo (5-8, 4.98) at 6:05 p.m. It’s Back to the Future Night and the Red Sox will be wearing special Marty McFly jerseys that will be auctioned off during the game. Fans unable to attend can listen on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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Chris Graham
