Strong pitching leads Salem Red Sox to doubleheader sweep

Kevin McAvoy earned his first professional win, Daniel McGrath won for the first time in 2015, and the Salem Red Sox swept a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Mudcats, 2-1 and 4-1.

Game one went to the Sox behind a strong pitching performance from McAvoy (1-1), who allowed just one run in his 5.2 innings of work. The righthander issued two walks and struck out a pair with just four hits against him.

The Red Sox took the lead for good in the fifth inning. Down 1-0 at that point, Manuel Margot plated Jordan Betts with a sacrifice fly, and was followed two batters later by an RBI single from Aneury Tavarez that scored Jordan Weems.

That was all the Red Sox would need. McAvoy worked in to the sixth inning, exiting after he allowed a two-out walk. Austin Maddox picked up the slack out of the bullpen, going four-up four-down to pick up his second save.

Another pitching duel emerged in the second contest, with both McGrath and Carolina starter Yean Carlos Gil tossing impressive starts. McGrath (1-1) struck out a team season-high seven over his five innings, walking three and allowing only one hit and one unearned run.

After falling behind 1-0, Salem struck for runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth. In the fourth, Tavarez knocked in Cole Sturgeon with a two-out double to tie the game at one. An inning later, after Mario Martinez reached on a throwing error, Margot smacked a two-out RBI double to score Martinez and give the Sox the lead at 2-1.

Mauricio Cabrera entered in relief of Gil (0-4) for Carolina in the sixth and struggled with his command. After back-to-back singles from Sam Travis and Jake Romanski to begin the frame, Cabrera walked the bases loaded with a free pass to Wendell Rijo. He then issued a walk to Martinez to score Travis. A Franklin Guzman sacrifice fly would plate Romanski to make it 4-1.

Kyle Kraus worked a pair of clean innings to pick up his second save and secure the doubleheader sweep. Overall, Salem pitchers limited Carolina hitters to two runs (one earned) on just five hits in 14 innings in the twin bill.

Salem improved to 8-8 with the pair of victories and Carolina dropped to 7-9. The Red Sox took three of four games in the series and now lead the season matchup 6-5.

The Red Sox will travel back to the Roanoke Valley and take Monday off before beginning a three-game series with the Frederick Keys on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Jake Dahlstrand (3-0, 0.95) is scheduled to start for Salem opposite Frederick’s Luis Gonzalez (1-1, 5.27). Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.