Sox Walk-Off in Trilling Extra Inning Game

SALEM, Va. – Down by one with runners on the corners and no one out Freili Encarnacion stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning. A mix of excitement and nerves circulated Salem Memorial Ballpark. Encarnacion took a crack at the first pitch he saw and cracked it into right field. Marvin Alcantara, who was standing on first, was not stopping as the ball rolled around the outfield. As he slid into home the ballpark erupted and Encarnacion was mobbed at second base.

It was the Salem Red Sox (20-20) second consecutive extra innings win in a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (19-21) on Tuesday evening at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The win moved Salem to the .500 mark for the first time since April 18, while the loss for Fayetteville was the team’s ninth in 10 tries.

The Sox set the tone early on. Salem put up a two-spot in the home half of the first, aided by an RBI hit-by-pitch off the left arm of Encarnacion and a run-scoring wild pitch that scored Nelly Taylor Jr. from third.

It remained a 2-0 ballgame until the top half of the sixth, when the Woodpeckers tied the contest on a Kenni Gomez RBI triple and a Juan Santander RBI groundout.

It was then Anderson that came through in the seventh. The No. 18 prospect in the Red Sox organization blasted his first career homer to give Salem a 3-2 lead, a 369-foot shot down the right field line.

Fayetteville wouldn’t go away, though. Down to their final out, the Woodpeckers proceeded to tie the game on a Xavier Casserilla RBI two-bagger, sending the game to extras with the game knotted up.

Fayetteville would put up two in the top half of the 10th, but the Red Sox immediately struck back. Jhostynxon Garcia’s RBI triple pulled the game to within one, and two hitters later, Encarnacion cashed in with a rope down the right field line, scoring both Garcia and Marvin Alcantara, who came all the way around from first to score and win the game.

The Sox return to action on Wednesday evening when they continue their six-game set with the Woodpeckers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.