Salem, Va. –– The Salem Red Sox and Potomac Nationals each pounded out 13 base hits in a back-and-forth affair Friday evening at LewisGale Field in Salem. Eight Salem extra-base hits, two-out hitting and some sloppy Potomac defense proved the difference in a 6-4 series-leveling Sox victory in front of a sparse crowd on a foggy spring night.
The Potomac Nationals staked starter Trevor Holder to a one-run lead in the second inning. Steven Souza – the Carolina League’s leading slugger – led off the frame with a bunt single. With one out, Sandy Leon singled to move Souza to third; he would score on a Jose Lozada groundout. Chris Curran then singled, but was removed from the game when he injured himself running to first. The newest National J.R. Higley pinch ran for Curran, and would play a major role in the game.
Spotty defense gave the lead back to Salem in the third. With two outs and Zach Gentile – who roped three hits on the evening – on first base, Kolbrin Vitek hit a liner to left. J.P. Ramirez decided to dive late, the ball skipped past him to the wall, and Gentile scored all the way from first. Reynaldo Rodriguez then hit a hot shot to third off the glove of Stephen King to score Vitek and give the Sox their first lead. Dan Butler then roped the first of his three doubles on the night to bring Rodriguez home and compound the Nats’ defensive miscues.
Three consecutive two-out doubles plated two more runs for Salem in the fifth and ended Holder’s night.
Potomac scrapped back into the game with a pair of runs in the next half inning. King singled to open the inning and moved to third on Sandy Leon’s double off the wall in right. With one out, Higley crushed a ball to center that banged off the wall and made it 5-3.
Salem got a run back in their portion of the sixth; Gentile doubled to plate Michael Almanzar, who was walked by Josh Smoker.
The P-Nats got another run and loaded the bases in the eight inning, but Steven Souza was struck out looking to strand a trio of runners and extinguish Potomac’s last real threat. Cesar Cabral sent them down in order in the ninth for his third save.
The two clubs will break the series tie Saturday at 6 P.M. Marcos Frias takes the hill against Chris Hernandez.
