By Will Flemming
For PotomacLocal.com
Salem, Va. –– The bottom third of the Salem Red Sox order provided unlikely pop and triggered a 5-2 series opening win over the Potomac Nationals Friday night at LewisGale Field.
The final three hitters on the lineup card drove in three runs, scored three and belted two extra base hits; all told, it was too much for the road weary Nationals to overcome and the Sox took Game One in front of 3,235 in the Roanoke Valley.
Jeremiah Bayer overpowered Nats hitting for the second time in a week. The righthander, who pitched four scoreless innings last weekend against Potomac, came in with two men in scoring position in the sixth inning and one out in a 4-2 ballgame. He got a pop-out and a strikeout to erase the jam, and would not be in another jam the rest of the way. Bayer faced just one more than the minimum over the next three frames, good for his first save of the season.
With the loss, Potomac fell to 8-12 while the Red Sox improved their Carolina League-best record to 15-5. The Nationals will need wins in the series’ final two games to secure a winning road trip.
Nationals starter Marcos Frias (1-2) was saddled with his second consecutive loss at LewisGale Field, and most of the damage was done in the fourth. A leadoff walk to Dan Butler was followed by a one-out single from number seven hitter Michael Almanzar; Derrik Gibson followed with a two-run double out of the eight hole, and scored when Jeremy Hazelbaker singled to center.
Number nine hitter Vladimir Frias gave the Sox an insurance run with a two-out homer to right that ended Frias’s night. Josh Smoker kept a clean sheet for an inning and a third, and Kyle Morrison pitched a scoreless eighth.
The lone offensive bright spot for Potomac was Stephen King, as he had three hits for the second straight night, including a pair of doubles.
The series continues Saturday tonight in Salem at 6:05.
Will Flemming is the Director of Broadcasting for the Potomac Nationals.
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