Salem Red Sox top Fredericksburg Nationals, 5-3, to conclude six-game set

The Salem Red Sox opened up another early lead and did not look back in a 5-3 win over the Fredericksburg Nationals on Monday.

After neither side scored in the first two innings, Salem strung together a series of two-out base hits to take the lead. With Cutter Coffey on second base, Jhostynxon Garcia roped a single up the middle to take a 1-0 lead. Lyonell James extended the inning with a single, then Yorberto Mejicano flipped a single into right field to plate Garcia and James.

Albertson Asigen singled as well to bring Mejicano in, extending the Red Sox lead to 4-0.

That was plenty of breathing room for Salem right-hander Yordanny Monegro. He worked five scoreless innings, and was at his best with FredNats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, on base behind him.

Fredericksburg finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning. Roismar Quintana led off with a two-strike single, ahead of Branden Boissiere. He also fell behind in the count 1-2, before smoking his fifth home run of the year to the manual scoreboard in right field which trimmed the deficit to 4-2.

Daylen Lile continued the comeback effort with a leadoff walk in the home seventh, then stole second base. Quintana then laced an opposite-field RBI single to pull Fredericksburg within a run at 4-3.

However, a leadoff home run for Salem, the Low-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, in the eighth inning pushed their lead back up to 5-3.

Caleb Boldem entered in the bottom of the eighth for Salem, and allowed just a pair of baserunners over the final two frames as he preserved a 5-3 win for the Red Sox.

Monegro got his second win and Bolden earned his fourth save, while Riley Cornelio dropped to 2-5 on the season.

Fredericksburg picks it right back up tomorrow, beginning a six-game series against the Delmarva Shorebirds.