The Charleston RiverDogs climbed over the .500 mark for the first time this season, beating the Salem Red Sox 10-8 in a see-saw battle on Friday night in front of 4,502 fans at Joseph P. Riley Park.
The win is the RiverDogs’ sixth consecutive and clinches a series win over Salem. Charleston is now 19-18, surging to win 11 of their last 12 games after falling to 8-17 on May 2.
Charleston opened the scoring in the second inning, capitalizing on a throwing error by Red Sox Catcher Kleyver Salazar to go up by one. Salem answered back immediately, thanks to a Justin Gonzales single to center that knotted the game at one apiece in the third.
In the bottom of the inning, Charleston snatched the lead back, as Angel Mateo bopped a three-run homer to left field – his third of the year – to make it 4-1 ‘Dogs.
The lead was short-lived, as Salem hung a four-spot in the top of the fourth. After Fraymi De Leon cut the lead to 4-3 with a two-RBI single, Kelvin Diaz laced an RBI single that eventually led to a second run on a throwing error, putting Salem ahead 5-4.
Charleston continued the call and response pattern in the bottom of the fourth, rallying for their own four spot. JD Gonzalez re-tied the game with an RBI single that pushed in Woo Shin from second base.
Later in the frame, Brailier Guerrero, the Rays No. 10 prospect, punched a go-ahead two-RBI double into the left center field gap. Narciso Polanco then scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-5 RiverDogs.
Guerrero finished the contest 4-5, boosting his average to .339 through 14 games in Single-A.
Salem trimmed the deficit to one in the sixth inning, scoring on a Yoeilin Cespedes RBI single and wild pitch. However, the RiverDogs once again mustered a response in the next half inning, as Mateo pushed in a run on a single and Nathan Flewelling drove in Guerrero on a sacrifice fly, burgeoning the lead to 10-7.
The Red Sox scored the game’s final run in the seventh inning, but Charleston’s bullpen silenced their bats from there on out.
After a 1-2-3 eighth from Cade Citelli, Dominic Niman closed out the game for the RiverDogs, earning his first save of the season by retiring Salem in the minimum. Niman has not allowed an earned run in his last 12 innings.
Ballpark Fun: Tonight was another exciting Fireworks Friday at The Joe, with thousands of fans sticking around to enjoy the postgame show. Throughout the night, fans and RiverDogs employees made several impressive plays on foul balls. One fan in the Segra Club caught a foul ball on the bounce while holding a beer and followed by chugging the beer to a rousing ovation. A game of knocker balls ended with a child knocked upside down. The collision was replayed on the video board in slow-motion.
The RiverDogs will battle Salem again tomorrow night on Boeing Military Appreciation Night at 6:05 pm. Limited tickets are still available online at RiverDogs.com