The Salem Red Sox will be back home this week hoping to build on their Carolina League Northern Division lead. Salem’s lead, which was once six games, has fallen to just two games through Tuesday’s results.

Salem was scheduled to open an eight game series on Wednesday night against Frederick at 7:05 pm. Thursday and Friday 7:05 pm games follow with a 6:05 pm start against the Keys on Saturday.

On Sunday Lynchburg comes in for a doubleheader beginning at 1:05 pm. After an off-day Monday the Sox will host the Hillcats again on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:05 pm.

It will be a big homestand for the Sox with less than three weeks remaining in the first half of the Carolina League season. Lynchburg took three of four from Salem at Lynchburg City Stadium last week, including the first three games. That cut Salem’s lead to just one game over the Hillcats, but Salem salvaged a 4-3 win in the final game of the series on Monday to get the lead back up to two games.

Michael Chavis of the Red Sox has been named Carolina League Player of the Week for the second time in the 2017 season, stretching from May 22 to May 28, 2017.

Chavis, a 21-year-old third baseman from Atlanta, Georgia, batted .462 with a .500 on-base percentage and .731 slugging percentage on the week, including a double and two homers. He scored seven runs and knocked in seven more, helping the Sox maintain their edge atop the Carolina League’s Northern Division.

As of May 30, Chavis leads the Carolina League in batting average (.357), home runs (12), OBP (.435) and SLG (.695), and is second in extra-base hits (27), runs scored (38) and total bases (107). His 41 RBI are third in the CL as well, trailing league leader and teammate Josh Ockimey (46). He previously won the CL’s Player of the Week Award for the week spanning April 18-24, when he posted 10 hits in 21 at-bats for a .476 batting average, along with three doubles and five homers (three in one game, a record at Salem Memorial Ballpark).

Chavis spent most of the 2016 season with the Low-A Greenville Drive, getting seven games with Salem. He started the season red-hot, including a stretch where he hit safely in 11 of 12 games, batting .408 with three homers and 13 RBI. Chavis posted back-to-back three-hit games on April 16 and 17 of 2016, with two homers and six RBI, and hit homers in three straight games from April 16 through April 18. Chavis missed significant time due to a left thumb ligament sprain.

In 2015, Chavis spent his second professional season with Greenville. His 16 HR led the Red Sox organization and were good enough to tie for fifth in the South Atlantic League. He made his professional debut in 2014 with the GCL Red Sox, tying for second on the team with 12 doubles.

Chavis attended Sprayberry Senior High School in Georgia, and was a first-round pick of the Red Sox (26th overall) in the 2014 draft. Before signing with Boston, he was committed to play for the Clemson Tigers. He was named Georgia’s 2014 Gatorade High School Player of the Year, and won the home run derby at the Perfect Game All-American Classic in 2014.