Feliciano Homers Again, but in 9-7 Loss to Salem at Five County

ZEBULON, NC - Mario Feliciano hit his Carolina League leading 13th home run of the season, Ryan Aguilar hit a solo shot of his own in the ninth and Rob Henry went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, but the Salem Red Sox used a four run seventh to take Thursday's series opener 9-7 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.

The Mudcats (33-26) played as the "Carolina Micro Brews" for the third time this season in Thursday's series opening game versus the visiting Red Sox (19-38). The loss was Carolina's third when playing as the Micro Brews and snapped a three-game win streak. The Salem victory, however, broke a 10 game skid and gave the Red Sox a one game to none lead in the four game set.
Eddie Silva got the Mudcats going early in Thursday's opener after reaching on a double and scoring on a RBI hit from Zach Clark. That 1-0 lead quickly ran up to 4-0 in the third though after Carolina rallied for three two-out runs. That rally included a RBI single from Tristen Lutz and Feliciano's two-run home run off starter Daniel Gonzalez. 
Feliciano's third inning home run gave the Mudcats a 4-0 lead in the game and was his Carolina League best 13th of the season. The home run was also his fourth over the last three games and brought his league leading RBI total to 42 on the season. He finished the game going 2-for-4 with two runs, a home run and two RBI for the Mudcats.
Carolina had a 4-0 lead before the Red Sox bounced back with five runs in the fourth while taking a 5-4 lead. All five of those runs came against starter Noah Zavolas and were collected on five hits, including run scoring hits from Marcus Wilson, Victor Acosta and Jagger Rusconi. An error earlier in the frame by Aguilar at first also contributed and led to just two earned runs for Zavolas in the five run frame.
In all, Zavolas struck out three, walked one and allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits over just three and 2/3 innings pitched. He also reached 70 pitches (47 strikes) while working through his shortest start of the season.
Reliever Matt Hardy followed and went on to finish the fourth with a strikeout while leaving two inherited runners on base. Hardy went on to work through two and 1/3 scoreless frames while keeping the deficit at just one. He also struck out four and allowed just one hit in his appearance.
The Mudcats eventually came back with two in the sixth to go up 6-5, but a four run Salem rally in the seventh put the Red Sox up for good. 
Carolina's two run sixth including a walk from Feliciano, a double to center from Payton Henry and run scoring hits from Silva and Julio Garcia. That two run rally also came against starter Gonzalez (5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) and reliever Robbie Baker.
Baker ended up pitching just the one inning for Salem, but earned the win after being in the game when the Red Sox broke it open with the four run seventh. That inning included four two-out runs allowed in by reliever Justin Topa. The first of those four came across on a RBI single from Garrett Benge and the next three all scored on a home run from Wilson.
Topa (L, 0-1, BS 1, 13.50) pitched just the one inning and finished with four runs allowed on four hits. J.T. Hintzen followed and worked through two perfect frames with two strikeouts to finish the game out of the Carolina pen.
The Mudcats did eventually come back with one more run on Aguilar's homer in the ninth, but Salem held on for a 9-7 series opening victory. His homer came off reliever Andrew Politi and was the only run allowed by Politi over two and 2/3 innings. Politi also struck out five, walked two and allowed two hits while earning his first hold of the season. 
Eduard Bazardo then finished the game with a one out save after striking out Payton Henry on three pitches to end the game. Henry was the only batter faced by Bazardo (S, 3) and had represented the tying run as his at bat followed a single to center from Feliciano.
Carolina went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position in the loss and left seven men on base. Salem went 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position, but left just four men on in the victory.
The series will continue on Friday night beginning at 7:00 p.m. and will include RHP Braden Webb (0-2, 4.01) starting for the Mudcats. Friday's game will be followed by post-game fireworks presented by House Autry. The game will air live on the Mudcats Radio Network, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio. The game will also stream live in full high-definition video on MiLB.tv via Minor League Baseball's subscription service.
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