The Salem Red Sox will hit the road for the first time today after a successful season opening homestand. Salem will play four games in Buies Creek against the Astros, beginning tonight, before returning home Monday to begin a three game homestand with the Potomac Nationals.

The Sox opened the season by winning five of six games against Buies Creek and Wilmington, with a seventh game scheduled for Wednesday that was too late for press deadlines. The Sox opened at home against Buies Creek last week and took three of four games in the first series of the season. The Sox opened on Thursday and edged the Astros 4-3 behind a tremendous relief effort by Daniel Gonzalez at Haley Toyota Field in Salem.

The Red Sox rode Gonzalez and his long relief effort to victory, as the right-hander recorded 10 strikeouts for just the second time in his career and the first time since August 9, 2014, against the DSL Cardinals. Buies Creek fell behind early and never caught up, despite getting the tying run in scoring position with no outs in the ninth inning.

The Astros opened the scoring in the top of the first against Salem starting pitcher Roniel Raudes. With Josh Rojas at third and only one away following a throwing error by catcher Jhon Nunez, Abraham Toro lifted a sacrifice fly to left, plating Rojas and giving Buies Creek a 1-0 lead.

The Sox answered back in short order in the bottom of the frame against Buies Creek starter Jorge Alcala, who walked leadoff man Santiago Espinal. Brett Netzer poked a single into right, and Espinal raced to third to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Bobby Dalbec fanned, but Ryan Scott slashed a single of his own into right to score Espinal and send Netzer to third. A wild pitch by Alcala moved Scott to second, and Nunez atoned for his earlier mistake by slapping a single to center that scored both runners and put the Sox in front 3-1.

Salem tacked on another in the bottom of the second. Chris Madera rapped a single with one away, and scooted to second when catcher Chuckie Robinson mishandled a high pitch for a passed ball. Espinal grounded out, but Madera moved up to third, and came home on a single by Netzer to make it a 4-1 lead.

The Astros started chipping away in the top of the third. Osvaldo Duarte cracked a triple to right to open the inning, and Ronnie Dawson walked to put runners at first and third. The Astros attempted a double steal, and Nunez threw out Dawson at second, but Netzer’s return throw didn’t quite catch Duarte, who slid home safely to trim the lead to 4-2.

Gonzalez entered in the sixth, and walked Toro to begin his outing before fanning the next two batters. Toro swiped second, and Chas McCormick tripled off the wall in left, scoring Toro and cutting the lead to 4-3. Gonzalez locked it down from there on, and even worked around a leadoff double by Troy Sieber in the top of the ninth to fan the next three batters and secure victory for the home team.

Raudes earned the win, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while fanning three in five innings. Gonzalez allowed a run on two hits and a walk in his four frames to go with his 10 strikeouts.

On Friday night the Red Sox pulled off an improbable comeback, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth and taking a 4-3 walk-off victory. The Sox had only three hits through the first eight innings of the game and struck out 16 times, but posted four hits to power their ninth-inning surge.

Down 3-1 into the bottom of the ninth, the Sox made their move. Brandon Bielak had been magnificent through his first three frames of relief, but Dalbec took the first pitch he saw deep over the wall to center, bringing the Sox within a run. Ryan Scott followed his heroics with a double to left field, putting the potential tying run in scoring position.

Kyri Washington fanned for the first out, but Tyler Hill hit a dying quail into center that fell for a single and moved Scott to third base. Jerry Downs came through in the clutch for the Sox, lacing a single to center to plate Scott, and Ronnie Dawson‘s throw to third sailed over Abraham Toro’s head. With Hill having rounded second, the ball skipped into the Salem dugout, and Hill was waved home by the umpires for the walk-off win.

Jake Thompson took a no-decision, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while fanning four in 5.2 innings. It was his first professional start of more than two innings. Jared Oliver allowed one hit and fanned two over 1.1 innings of relief. Joan Martinez (W, 1-0) gave up a hit and a walk but nothing else in two innings, whiffing four and recording the win.

The Sox were rained out on Saturday, then split a Sunday doubleheader. They lost the first game, 1-0, as the Astros scored the only run of the game on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth.

The Sox took a bit of revenge in the nightcap, scoring a 2-1 win in eight innings.

With the score tied at 1-1 the Astros were unable to score in the top of the eighth, and Salem began the bottom of the frame with Netzer on second. Dalbec lifted a fly to deep right for the first out, but Netzer was able to move up to third base. Scott then hit a bouncer to the right side for a single, and Netzer raced home with the winning run.

Hildemaro Requena took a no-decison, allowing one run on one hit and one walk in four innings while whiffing two. Jordan Weems allowed a hit and two walks and struck out one over two frames. Algenis Martinez (W, 1-0) earned the win with two shutout innings from the bullpen, walking one and racking up four strikeouts.

On Monday the Sox welcomed the Wilmington Blue Rocks to town and improved to 4-1 with a 6-2 win.

Down 2-1, Salem drew even in the bottom of the sixth inning against reliever Jared Ruxer. With one out and the bases empty, Dalbec scorched a fly to the deepest part of the yard for a solo homer. It was his second bomb of the year, and it tied the game at 2-2.

The Sox surged ahead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Trenton Kemp earned a leadoff walk from Ruxer, and zipped to third on a double by Jerry Downs. After a groundout by Tyler Hill failed to advance the runners, Santiago Espinal brought Kemp home on a sacrifice fly to center. That chased Ruxer from the game, but new reliever Nolan Becker surrendered a double to Netzer that sent Downs in to make it a 4-2 lead for the Sox.

Salem extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Becker got a double play for the first two outs of the frame, but third baseman Emmanuel Rivera booted a grounder from Kyri Washington, extending the inning. Kemp took advantage, blasting a two-run shot to dead center to run the advantage to 6-2. Wilmington got two aboard in the ninth, but couldn’t convert, and Salem earned the win.

Houck took a no-decision, allowing two runs on four hits and four walks in four innings while fanning four. Hunter Smith (W, 1-0) allowed two walks and a hit in three frames but nothing else, whiffing two and getting the win. Joan Martinez (S, 1) worked around two hits and three walks in his two innings of action, recording one strikeout and notching the save.

The Salem Red Sox kept the good times rolling Tuesday night, dropping the visiting Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-1 to earn their third consecutive win at Haley Toyota Field in Salem. The Sox only mustered four hits but made the most of them, going 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position.. Highly-touted Sox righty Bryan Mata looked mature beyond his 18 years of age, befuddling Blue Rocks hitters with a sharp curveball and a superb changeup to pick up the win.