Mauricio Dubon stole home, Wendell Rijo scored from second on a groundout and the Salem Red Sox used aggressive baserunning to sprint past the Frederick Keys 3-2 on a rainy Thursday night at LewisGale Field.
With the game tied at one in the bottom of the fifth inning, Dubon sent a one-out single up the middle. Salem then executed a hit and run with Dubon moving from first to third on a Wendell Rijo single past the vacated second base position. With Kevin Heller at the plate, Rijo took off for second base, drawing a throw from Keys catcher Chance Sisco. As Sisco let the ball go, Dubon put his head down and sprinted home, scoring without a return throw as Rijo slid in ahead of the tag at second.
Later in the Heller at bat, Rijo was again moving on the pitch as Heller sent a bouncing ball to short. Jeff Kemp fielded it as Rijo reached third and when he let the ball fly for first, Rijo scampered down the third base line and scored without a throw from Yaisel Mederos at first base, giving Salem a 3-1 lead.
The Red Sox first run scored in the bottom of the first without the aid of a base-hit. Forrestt Allday worked a leadoff walk and moved to third thanks to a groundout and a passed ball. With Rijo at first, Heller sent a grounder to third that Tanner Witt fielded and threw to second for a force out, but that was all the Keys got as Allday scored the first run of the game.
Frederick tied the game with a two-out rally in the fourth inning. Conor Bierfeldt walked and moved to second when Anthony Caronia singled. Jay Gonzalez then singled through the hole at second, scoring Bierfeldt to tie the game at one.
Kevin McAvoy (7-9) picked up the victory with only one run allowed on four hits and four walks in 5.1 innings pitched. McAvoy set a new career-high by striking out seven Keys in the winning effort.
Mederos brought Frederick one run closer with a two-out ninth inning solo home run to cut the lead to 3-2. However, Mike Adams got Wynston Sawyer to ground out, ending the game while picking up his sixth save.
Dubon was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored, Rijo went 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a run scored and Kevin Heller drove in two runs although his 0-for-3 evening snapped his hitting streak at nine games.
Mitch Horacek (6-13) gave up three runs, two earned, on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in six innings for Frederick. His 13 losses lead the Carolina league and his seven strikeouts extended his league-leading total to 120.
Salem’s victory snapped a five-game home losing streak and improved its record to 54-57 and 16-25 in the second half. Frederick fell to 53-58 and 21-20 as the two teams split the 16-game season series 8-8.
The Red Sox now hit the road for a three-game series with the Winston-Salem Dash. Friday’s contest at BB&T Ballpark will feature Daniel McGrath (1-4, 4.09) opposing Matt Heidenreich (11-2, 2.60) at 7 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
– Source: Salem Red Sox
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Chris Graham
