Salem tripped up late in 4-3 loss to Wilmington

SALEM, Va. – The Salem Red Sox' bullpen woes resurfaced Friday night as they couldn't hold on to a late lead in a 4-3 loss to the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Haley Toyota Field.

The Sox (1-1, 41-30) led for most of the game but surrendered four runs between the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to take the loss. The Blue Rocks (1-1, 40-32) earned their 40th win of the season and rebounded from their own bullpen implosion the previous night. Salem first baseman Josh Ockimey matched a Red Sox-era record with four walks in the loss; he's just the fifth player to have done it since Boston became affiliated with Salem.
Salem opened the scoring in the bottom of the second against Wilmington starter Jared Ruxer (ND). Austin Rei cracked a one-out single, and moved up to second on a wild pitch by Ruxer. With two outs, Jeremy Rivera knocked his own single into the left-center field gap, plating Rei to make it 1-0 in favor of the Sox.

The Sox expanded their lead in the third. Tate Matheny led off, and reached on an error by second baseman D.J. Burt. Bryan Hudson hit a single on a swinging bunt, putting runners at first and second. Ruxer then fired a wild pitch, and Matheny and Hudson advanced to second and third. Josh Ockimey worked a walk, and ball four was another wild pitch by Ruxer; Matheny zipped home as Hudson ran to third. With runners at the corners and Jose Sermo batting, Ruxer uncorked yet another wild pitch, which let Hudson score and run Salem's lead to 3-0.

Wilmington got on the board in the top of the sixth against Salem starter Dedgar Jimenez (ND). With two outs and Chris DeVito at first, Jimenez gave up a single to Nathan Esposito, and Roman Collins rapped a single of his own to plate DeVito. Cody Jones singled to load the bases, but Jimenez got Jecksson Flores to fly out to left to end the inning with Salem leading 3-1.

The Blue Rocks evened the score in the top of the seventh against Sox reliever Gerson Bautista (BS, 3), who got the first two batters out but then issued consecutive walks to Wander Franco and Chase Vallot. DeVito singled Franco home, and  Esposito lashed a double to score Vallot and tie the game at 3-3. The Sox loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, but reliever Yunior Marte (W 3-2) got Rei to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game with the score tied.

Salem fell behind in the top of the eighth, as new reliever Adam Lau (L, 2-5) gave up a leadoff double to Cody Jones. Jecksson Flores advanced Jones to third on a sacrifice bunt, and a two-out, RBI single by Franco put Wilmington ahead 4-3. Salem was shut down from then on by Marte and Richard Lovelady (S, 7) and fell to the visitors.

Jimenez took a no-decision, surrendering a run on 11 hits while fanning five in six innings. Bautista gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in one inning, recording one strikeout. Lau took the loss, and gave up a run on two hits and a walk while whiffing three.

The Sox will try to right the ship Saturday night, with All-Star lefty Matthew Kent toeing the slab for Salem against Wilmington lefty and fellow All-Star Cristian Castillo. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m., and Ben Gellman has the call on the Red Sox Radio Network starting at 6:45 p.m.