The Salem Red Sox battled through an early deficit to knock off the Potomac Nationals, 7-4, on Thursday evening at Pfitzner Stadium. The Red Sox have now won 12 of their last 13 games.
Facing knuckleballer J.D. Martin, Salem’s offense struggled to adjust early on before finally breaking through in the fourth. Trailing 2-0 after Potomac (68-60, 34-26) tallied single runs in the second and third innings, the Red Sox plated three in the fourth. Jordan Procyshen brought in the first run with an RBI single before Jordan Betts smashed a two-run double to right-center, putting Salem (80-48, 37-22) in front 3-2.
The Sox tacked on two more in the fifth on a Jayce Ray RBI groundout and a throwing error from Potomac, extending the advantage to 5-2. Martin (0-2) tossed seven innings for Potomac, allowing six runs (five earned) on 10 hits.
After the early blips, Matt Kent settled in to throw yet another quality start for Salem. Kent (10-6) lasted 6.2 innings, yielding three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks. He became the fourth pitcher in the league to reach 10 wins while recording his 12th quality start in 24 appearances.
The Nationals cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth by scoring a run on an error, but the Red Sox immediately responded in the seventh when Ray tripled home Joseph Monge to make it 6-3 Salem. Ray added another RBI with a two-out single in the ninth, marking his second straight three-RBI contest. Monge tallied three hits and scored three runs from the top of the order.
Things weren’t smooth down the stretch as Potomac had nine baserunners over the final three innings, but only scratched across one run on a bases loaded double play in the ninth against Jamie Callahan. Salem pitching held Potomac to an 0-for-9 mark with runners in scoring position despite issuing seven walks and hitting four batters.
Salem now returns home for the final regular season homestand of the year, opening up a four-game, three-day series with the Frederick Keys on Friday night at 7:05 pm. Trey Ball (7-5, 3.86) gets the call for Salem opposite Frederick’s Jon Keller (0-1, 2.89). Follow along with all the action on the Salem Red Sox Baseball Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:45 pm.
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Chris Graham
