Nick Yorke hit two home runs to lead the Salem Red Sox to a 5-4 win over the Lynchburg Hillcats Sunday, giving Salem a four games to two series victory. With the win Salem remained just one game behind Carolina for the second and final playoff spot in the Low-A East standings.
Yorke drilled one over the left centerfield wall in the bottom of the second to give Salem a 2-1 lead. That was all the scoring until the seventh inning, when Salem put two more runs on the board. Angel Maita knocked his second double of the season down the right field line scoring Nick Northcut. Jecorrah Arnold followed up Maita with a sacrifice fly on a line shot to center field giving Salem a three-run lead.
The Hillcats rallied in the top of the eighth to tie the game. Lynchburg scored three runs on a sacrifice fly from Jhonkensy Noel, an RBI single from Johnathan Rodriguez, and Gabriel Rodriguez reaching on an error from Ceddanne Rafaela to tie the game at 4-4.
Yorke broke the tie in the bottom of the inning. Nick drove a ball over the wall in left on a 3-2 count as Salem regained the lead, 5-4. Jacinto Arrredondo pitched the last inning for Salem and picked up the win after blowing a save in the eighth.
Yorke, Salem’s leadoff hitter and a number one overall pick of Boston, was three-for-three in the game to raise his season average to .312. He also extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
The win lifted Salem to 50-34 on the season. The Sox won the opening game of the series, 8-1, but lost the second, 9-6. Salem won Thursday’s game, 9-7, the Hillcats won Friday, 8-4, and Salem won the two weekend games, 5-3 on Saturday and 5-4 on Sunday.
This week the Sox are off to Fredricksburg for a six game series. The Nationals come in 26 games under .500 at 29-55 while Carolina has six games at Down East, who is 11 over at 47-36. Salem and Carolina are battling for the second playoff spot behind Charleston, who is 10 ½ games ahead of Salem at 60-23 and will make the playoffs unless suffer an epic collapse in the final month of the season.
The Sox are on the road for a dozen straight games, visiting Lynchburg for six after this week’s series in Fredricksburg. The next home series begins August 24 when Delmarva comes to town. The Shorebirds are four and a half games behind Salem in the Low-A East North Division and five and a half games out of a playoff spot.
