Red Sox Home Struggles Continue in Wednesday Loss to Lynchburg

SALEM, Va. — Education Day at Salem Memorial Ballpark saw the best crowd of the season to date with over 5,000 spectators in attendance. Mostly comprised of local school-aged kids, the ballpark was the site of their big field trip this spring.

Despite the plethora of support, the Red Sox remain winless at home after dropping their second game of the series to the Lynchburg Hillcats, 7-2.

A stalemate early, both teams remained scoreless through two innings, before the Red Sox cracked things open in the bottom of the third. Shortstop, Marvin Alcatarem set the table with a two-out double. Jhostynxon Garcia, who’s second on the team with a .333 batting average, ripped an RBI-single to center field to give Salem the 1-0 advantage.

Red Sox starting pitcher, Blake Wehunt, a ninth round pick out of Kennesaw State, was solid on the hill. Wehunt dealt three scoreless innings, surrendering just one hit and three walks, while striking out four batters.

The wheels fell off in the fourth inning for Salem as the Hillcats put up a four-piece in the road half. After Wehunt’s day came to a close, the Red Sox looked to 21 year-old righty, Nathanael Cruz. The Santo Domingo native struggled, pitching just an inning and ⅓ , giving up five hits and three earned runs.

The Hillcats struck in a hurry, starting the fourth inning with four-straight hits. A leadoff double by catcher, Manuel Mejias, followed by three consecutive singles from Wuilfredo Antunez, Rafael Ramirez Jr., and Tommy Hawke. Paired with a pair of stolen bases and a Red Sox throwing error, it was a recipe for a big-inning fourth.

Salem snapped back into shape in the fifth, as former North Carolina Tarheel, Max Carlson, replaced Cruz for the final two outs. The Red Sox scored a run of their own in the home half to bring it back within two. After a double off the barrel of Miguel Bleis, followed by an Antonio Anderson single at the top of the order, Jhostynxon Garcia delivered again with his second RBI of the afternoon on a base-hit to left.

Lynchburg would pull away once again in the sixth. Wake Forest product, Tommy Hawke, led off with a knock in the sixth. With two outs, Guardians 2023 first round pick, Ralphy Velazquez drilled his second home-run of the series over the right field fence to give Lynchburg the 6-2 lead.

Scoreless the rest of the game, Salem gifted Lynchburg an insurance run in the eighth, as Denis Reguillo collected the first two outs in a hurry, before walking four consecutive batters to give the Hillcats a 7-2 lead.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Red Sox waved the white flag, tossing first baseman Albert Feliz on the hill in the ninth. The big-bodied 22-year old had some serious velocity to his fastball, tossing an effortless top-out of 93 miles per hour. Walking just two, ‘Big Ale’ kept the Hillcats scoreless heading to the bottom of the ninth.

Plagued by three errors in two games, while being out-hit 25-15 in the series, the Red Sox have been no match thus far in this year’s rendition of the 460 Rivalry.

The two teams now sit even at 5-6 on the season, 3.5 games back of the Mudcats (still have to play Wednesday night) in the Carolina League North.

The Red Sox are back in action again tomorrow night against the Lynchburg Hillcats for a 7:05 PM first pitch in Salem.

Location: Salem Memorial Ballpark

First Pitch: 11:05 a.m.

Time of Game: 2:52