SALEM, Va. – The Salem RidgeYaks (41-53, 16-13) dropped a heartbreaking 6-4 decision in 10 innings to the Augusta GreenJackets (51-44, 35-28) on Saturday night at Carilion Clinic Field, ending Salem's three-game winning streak.
Salem carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning behind another outstanding performance from starting pitcher Jose Bello, but Augusta rallied with three runs in the ninth before plating three more in the 10th to complete the comeback. The RidgeYaks pushed across one run in the bottom of the 10th but left the tying run on base.
Bello turned in five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out four. Ethan Walker followed with two scoreless frames out of the bullpen before the GreenJackets broke through against Luis Cohen in the ninth. Hayden Friese led off the inning with a solo home run before Conor Essenburg tied the game with a two-run blast to center field.
Augusta seized control in the 10th after loading the bases on a walk and catcher interference. Luis Guanipa delivered a two-run single before Essenburg added an RBI single to make it 6-3.
The RidgeYaks struck first with two runs in the third inning. Ilan Fernandez and Skylar King opened the frame with back-to-back singles before Andrews Opata lined an RBI single to center. Franklin Primera followed with an RBI single to give Salem a 2-0 advantage.
Salem added another run in the fifth after King singled and later scored on Primera's RBI single, extending the lead to 3-0.
King paced the RidgeYaks offensively with three hits, while Primera also collected three hits and drove in two runs. Opata added two hits and two RBIs, and Fernandez scored two runs as Salem finished with 11 hits.
In the bottom of the 10th, Fernandez began the inning at second and scored on Opata's RBI single to cut the deficit to two. Salem brought the tying run to the plate, but Daniel Brooks recorded the final two outs to secure the victory for Augusta.
The RidgeYaks and GreenJackets conclude their six-game series on Sunday afternoon. Salem has clinched at least a share of the six-game series as Williams Montero makes his Single-A debut with first scheduled for 4:05 p.m.
Game Notes
- Salem lost their first game since Tuesday night
- The RidgeYaks move to 1-7 in extra-inning games
- Salem’s 11-game home run streak came to end as the Yaks failed to hit a home run for the first time since July 8
- Since July 2, Salem has won 12 of its last 18 games. During that span, the RidgeYaks lead the Carolina League with a .299 batting average and are second in Single-A with 129 runs, and lead Single-A with 189 hits and 76 extra-base hits
- Avinson Pinto’s on-base streak came to end at 18-games since June 23
- During the second half, Salem is now 8-3 when a pitcher works more than four innings
- Skylar King went 3-for-5 for his 15th multi-hit game of the season and second in as many nights
- Salem has already clinched a winning homestand and sees the record to 5-3 during the homestand
- The RidgeYaks still remain in first place in the North Division with a 1 1/2 game lead over Fayetteville
- Ethan Walker has now gone 8.2 innings over his last four outings allowing just on earned run
- Jose Bello went five innings for just the third time this season and second in his last two outings