The Salem Red Sox scored three times in the last of the seventh to take their first lead, capitalizing on countless free passes to defeat the Blue Rocks 6-3 in the series rubber match on Wednesday at LewisGale Field. The six runs that Salem scored all reached base via the walk, and the Sox drew a season-high 10 bases on balls in their victory to draw within two games of the first place Mudcats in the Carolina League Southern Division.
The three-run seventh was aided by walks to three of the first four hitters, all issued by Cory Hall who last just one-third of an inning. David Chester and Mookie Betts delivered RBI singles, while another run crossed the plate on a wild pitch to surge the Sox in front 5-3. In the eighth, another leadoff walk led to an insurance run, with Keury De La Cruz’ sacrifice fly bringing home Carson Blair.
Kyle Kraus earned the win with three dominant innings out of Salem’s bullpen. The righthander improved to 3-2 by retiring all nine batters he faced, collecting two strikeouts and two assists. Starter Kyle Stroup dominated at the outset, retiring nine of the ten batters he saw over three innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list.
The game remained scoreless into the fourth, when Wilmington registered four straight hits against Mike McCarthy. Jared Schlehuber and Daniel Mateo each delivered RBI singles, but McCarthy stranded a pair on the basepaths to surrender just two runs. Quickly, Salem evened the score in the last of the fourth, using three walks, a Matt Gedman RBI single, and a wild pitch to answer with a pair and tie it up 2-2.
The Blue Rock used back-to-back two-out doubles to take the lead again in the top of the sixth, with Yem Prades driving in Daniel Mateo to make it 3-2. But the Wilmington bullpen could not make the late advantage stand, as the Sox rallied for three in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
Deven Marrero led the Sox with two hits and a walk, while Stefan Welch drew three walks on the day. Nick Natoli also registered a single and a pair of walks, reaching base three times for the Sox.
Salem’s six-game homestand continues with Winston-Salem arriving on Thursday evening for a 7:05 first pitch. Heri Quevedo gets the ball for the Sox, while Braulio Ortiz will start for the Dash.
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Chris Graham
