The Salem Red Sox opened up another early lead and did not look back in a 5-3 win over the FredNats.
After neither side scored in the first two innings, Salem strung together a series of two-out base hits to take the lead. With Cutter Coffey on second base, Jhostynxon Garcia roped a single up the middle to take a 1-0 lead. Lyonell James extended the inning with a single, then Yorberto Mejicano flipped a single into right field to plate Garcia and James. Albertson Asigen singled as well to bring Mejicano in, extending the Red Sox lead to 4-0.
That was plenty of breathing room for Salem right-hander Yordanny Monegro. He worked five scoreless innings, and was at his best with FredNats on base behind him.
Fredericksburg finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning. Roismar Quintana led off with a two-strike single, ahead of Branden Boissiere. He also fell behind in the count 1-2, before smoking his fifth home run of the year to the manual scoreboard in right field which trimmed the deficit to 4-2.
Daylen Lile continued the comeback effort with a leadoff walk in the home seventh, then stole second base. Quintana then laced an opposite-field RBI single to pull Fredericksburg within a run at 4-3.
However, a leadoff home run for Salem in the eighth inning pushed their lead back up to 5-3.
Caleb Boldem entered in the bottom of the eighth for Salem, and allowed just a pair of baserunners over the final two frames as he preserved a 5-3 win for the Red Sox. Monegro got his second win and Bolden earned his fourth save, while Riley Cornelio dropped to 2-5 on the season.
