The Salem Fair is here and the Salem Red Sox are not. On Monday the Sox began a stretch of 18 straight days where they won’t be playing at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
The Sox have back-to-back six games series’ on the road, this week in Lynchburg and next week in Augusta. Then, on July 14-17, all teams are off for the Major League All-Star break. The Sox next home game is Friday, July 18, against Fayetteville.
The second half of the Carolina League season began on June 20 and the Red Sox are 3-6 over the first nine games, all played at home. They hosted the Hickory Crawdads for a six game series last week and went 2-4 with three of the losses being shutouts.
Saturday’s game was postponed by inclement weather and was made up with a doubleheader on Sunday. Salem didn’t score in either game, losing 3-0 and 8-0 as the Sox went 14 innings without a run over the two seven-inning games. Salem had just one hit in the opener, a single by Fraymi DeLeon, and two hits in the nightcap, a double by Justin Gonzales and a single by Andruw Musett. Salem was outhit in the doubleheader 17-3.
The Sox are hoping to turn things around this week in Lynchburg. They play 6:35 pm games through Friday with 2 pm starts on Saturday and Sunday. The Hillcats are off to a 5-4 start after their first nine games.
Salem is off next Monday, July 7, then will head to Augusta to play the Greenjackets for six games. The Jackets are 3-6, like Salem, after their first nine games of the second half.
Last week the Sox activated infielder Kelvin Diaz, then he was promoted to the Greenville Drive four days later.
