The Salem Red Sox pounded out a season-high 21 hits en route to a 10-6 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks Thursday Night at Frawley Stadium.
The game was scoreless into the third inning, when the Red Sox (39-21) broke through against Blue Rocks starter Foster Griffin. Mauricio Dubon laced a one-out double and scored on a Mike Meyers RBI single. After Meyers stole second and advanced to third on a Nick Longhi single, he came home on a Rafael Devers base hit to make it 2-0.
Salem mounted a great two-out rally in the fourth, with Dubon, Meyers, and Devers all collecting RBI singles against Griffin (1-3) to extend the advantage to 5-0. The lead bloated to 6-0 in the top of the fifth on a Dubon run-scoring infield hit.
Wilmington (19-37) roughed up Salem starter Travis Lakins for four runs in the bottom of the fifth to chase the lid-lifter from the game after 4.1 innings and close the gap to 6-4. Outside of the hiccup in the fifth, Lakins was dominant, allowing just two hits outside of that inning while striking out a career-high-tying nine batters. He got a no-decision after not completing the requisite five stanzas.
The Red Sox answered back with a bang against reliever Brennan Henry in the sixth. A leadoff walk followed by four straight hits, including a bases-loaded double from Jordan Betts, led to four runs coming in to score and a 10-4 lead.
A solo home run from Chad Johnson in the bottom of the sixth and an RBI single by Elier Hernandez in the bottom of the seventh closed the deficit to 10-6. Both of those tallies came against Yankory Pimentel (5-1) who replaced Lakins.
Simon Mercedes replaced Pimentel in the eighth, and tossed 2.0 scoreless innings to seal the victory.
The 21 hits tie a Salem franchise record for a single game in the Red Sox era (2009-present). Six Red Sox batters recorded multi-hit games, and four had multi-RBI games. Three batters – Dubon, Devers, and Danny Mars all finished with at least four hits.
Devers went 5-for-5 with a walk, two RBIs, and a run scored. Dubon finished 4-for-5 with a walk, a double, two runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base. Mars’ night consisted of going 4-for-6 with a run scored.
Salem’s magic number to clinch their first first-half championship since 1988 sits at four with 10 games left to play.
The Red Sox continue their series with the Blue Rocks Friday night at Frawley Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm. Salem will pitch Daniel McGrath (1-1, 4.58), while Wilmington counters with Zach Lovvorn (0-6, 3.76). 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
