Red Sox and Shorebirds Split Saturday Doubleheader

SALEM, Va. – Despite early struggles in game one, the Red Sox were able to bounce back for the nightcap to set up an opportunity to win the series on Sunday afternoon.

In game one, it was all Delmarva. After scoreless first and second innings, the Shorebirds broke the ice with a run in the third and took control with three more in the fourth.

Cole Urman led off the third inning with a solo homerun over the left field fence before Kevin Gurrero (single) and Angel Tejada (double) tallied back-to-back knocks in the fourth to put Delmarva in front 3-0. Urman came through again with a double to left, scoring one more to make it four, zip.

Stiven Acevedo added one final run in the fifth for the Shorebirds with a home run to left, making it a 5-0, dominant win. Delmarva tallied eight hits across the seven innings to Salem’s four.

Game two saw a bit more of a stalemate early with neither team putting up a run through the first three frames. Despite hits from Freili Encarnacion for the Red Sox and Carlos Rodriguez for the Shorebirds.

After another three up, three down half for Delmarva in the fourth the Red Sox drew first blood in the home half. Encarnacion led off with a single and was driven in thanks to a Nataneal Yuten RBI-double, putting the Sox in front 1-0.

The Shorebirds had a good chance to make noise in the fifth, but the Red Sox defense stood strong, creating two outs on the basepaths to keep the opposition off the board.

Delmarva would find the equalizer in the sixth with Jake Cunningham’s run scoring triple to bring in Maikol Hernandez (one-out single) to tie the game.

Feeling as if something had to give, the Sox exploded for their first big inning of the week, tallying four runs in the bottom half. Andrew Mussett, Encarnacion, and Marvin Alcantara led off the frame with back-to-back-to-back singles, loading the bases with nobody out.

Yuten lined out before Albert Feliz gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead with an RBI-single through the left side, reloading the bases.

After a pitching change, it was Stanley Tucker with the biggest swing of the night, cranking a bases-clearing triple into the right-center gap to make it 5-1.

The Shorebirds didn’t go down without a fight and things got nerve wracking at the end for the Red Sox as Angel Tejada led off with a double and was followed up by Edwin Amparo’s single to put runners on the corners.

Carols Rodriguez reached on a throwing error by Salem third baseman Freili Encarnacion, gifting Delmarva a pair of runs, making it 5-3.

Down to their final strike, Stiven Acevedo kept the game alive with an RBI-single through the left side to bring the Shorebirds within a run.

Acevedo stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but that would be all she wrote as Max Carlson pitched into the game sealing groundout.

Win the game two win, the Red Sox lead the series 3-2 with an opportunity to seal a series victory tomorrow afternoon. First pitch in Salem is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.