While the Salem Red Sox never had trailed by more than two runs, the Sox had been down all night long. In fact, they never led until the game was over. Keury De La Cruz blasted a walk-off two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to cap a three-run rally, bringing Salem to the .500 mark for the first time all season with Wednesday’s 5-4 victory over Wilmington.
With runners at first and third and one away, De La Cruz belted a deep fly toward the right-center field gap. With the ball in the air, the Red Sox knew the game, at the very least, would be tied. When it landed at the fence, Garin Cecchini motored around the bases and scored all the way from first to ignite Salem’s second walk-off celebration of the season.
The rally began with a Sean Coyle single, as Salem trailed 4-2 following Daniel Mateo’s solo homer in the top of the ninth. Down by a pair, the Sox quickly had the tying runners aboard when Natoli walked after Coyle’s hit. Up next, Cecchini crushed a bullet one-hopper right at the shortstop, and Kenny Diekroeger fumbled away what could have been an inning-shifting double play. Everybody was safe, loading the bases for Brandon Jacobs. He worked the count full, and lifted a sacrifice fly to medium-depth right field, scoring Coyle from second and moving Natoli to third. At that point, with the wind howling out towards left and the remnants of intermittent drizzle still sprinkling from the sky, De La Cruz bashed his second game-ending swing of the year, culminating a three-hour, four-minute with a thrilling sendoff.
The comeback made a winner of Robby Scott, who improved to 1-2 despite surrendering the homer in the top of the ninth. Andrew Triggs, who earned the victory on Monday night when Scott suffered the tough-luck loss, experienced the setback on this evening.
Wilmington outhit Salem 14-9, with six different Blue Rocks delivering multi-hit nights. The Red Sox were 0-for-6 in the game with men in scoring position until De La Cruz doubled at the end. The hero joined Coyle and Cecchini with multi-hit efforts for Salem.
In his first game in a week because of a bone bruise on his thumb, Coyle returned in style with a solo home run in the seventh inning and a crucial single that helped set the table in the ninth. Meanwhile, Cecchini continued his scorching stretch, reaching base four more times with two hits and two walks, scoring a pair of runs, including the winner in the ninth.
Blue Rocks starter Kyle Zimmer, the fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft, was erratic but impressive, striking out 11 and walking four in four and two-thirds innings. Both he and Salem starter Kyle Stroup earned no decisions, with Stroup permitting three runs (two earned) on nine hits over five frames for the Sox.
The dramatic Wednesday win allows Salem to look for a 3-1 series victory over Wilmington in the Thursday finale, scheduled for 7:05 at LewisGale Field. Mike Augliera brings his
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