The Salem Red Sox will host the Hickory Crawdads this week in the first full series of the Carolina League’s second half schedule. The first half of the split season ended last Thursday in the middle of Salem’s home series with Fredricksburg.
The Sox are hoping for a little more success in the second half of the season. They finished the first half with a 26-38 record, tied with Delmarva for last place in the North Division. Both teams finished 14 games behind the Lynchburg Hillcats, who won the first half with a league best 41-25 record.
Lynchburg, a Cleveland Guardians farm team, clinched a spot in the Mills Cup playoffs by winning the first half, finishing four games ahead of the second place Carolina Mudcats. In the South Division the Columbia Fireflies, a Kansas City Royals farm team, finished with a 36-30 record to win a race to the finish. Augusta and Charleston finished just a game behind Columbia, Hickory was two and a half games out and Kannapolis trailed by four when the first half concluded.
Salem is off to a 1-2 start to the second half. In last week’s home series with Fredricksburg the Sox won two of three to close out the first half, then opened the second half by dropping two of three to the Nationals.
Last Friday the second half opened with a 3-0 loss to the Nats. Salem had just four hits, two by Justin Gonzales.
On Friday the Sox bounced back with a 3-1 win. The game was tied 1-1 after five and a half innings when Natanael Yuten ripped his third home run of the season, a two-run shot that proved to be the winning blow. Andruw Musett and and Frederik Jimenez had two hits each and Austin Erlicher picked up the win in relief after starter Ben Hansen pitched four shutout innings. Eybersson Polanco picked up his second save with an inning and a third of scoreless relief.
The Nationals took Sunday’s getaway game, 6-3. Enddy Azocar had a solo homer for the Sox.
Salem was off Monday before opening a six game series with Hickory Tuesday. Night games through Saturday begin at 6:45 pm with a 1:05 pm start on Sunday. Friday is “Fourth of July Celebration Night” with post-game fireworks and Saturday is “African American Heritage Night.”
After Sunday the Sox won’t be home again until July 18 as the Salem Fair takes over the parking lot, followed by four games off from July 14-17 for the Major League Baseball All-Star game.
