The Salem Red Sox pulled to within three games of North Division leading Delmarva last week when they split a six game series with Fayetteville while the Shorebirds went 2-4 in their series with Down East. That cut another game off Delmarva’s lead with a favorable matchup for the Sox this week.
Salem opened a six game series with Fredricksburg at Salem Memorial Ballpark Tuesday night. The Nationals came to town with a 22-44 record, the second worst among the 12 teams in the Low-A East League. Meanwhile, Delmarva will host Lynchburg in a seven game series in Salisbury, MD. The Hillcats are a much tougher opponent with a 31-33 record coming into the week.
The top two teams in the 12 team Low-A East League make the post-season playoffs, and Salem was in third place through Monday. Charleston was tops among the dozen teams with a 46-18 record, leading the South Division. Delmarva was second at 39-25, seven games behind the Riverdogs, and Salem was third at 37-29, three behind Delmarva and 10 games behind Charleston.
Salem got off to a good start in last week’s series with Fayetteville, winning the first two games by scores of 16-8 and 7-4. However, they lost the next three, 10-4, 7-6 and 8-4 before bouncing back Sunday to win the get-away game, and even the series, with a 7-3 victory. Recent addition Chih-Jung Liu picked up the win on the mound with five innings of work, allowing two runs. Matthew Lugo had two of Salem’s six hits and scored three runs for the Sox.
This week’s series features “Teacher Appreciation Night” on Friday with post-game fireworks. Saturday is “Pirate and Princess Night” with a visor giveaway to the first 300 fans.