SALEM, Va. – Kleyver Salazar delivered another standout performance at the plate while Trennor O'Donnell slammed the door over the final four innings as the Salem RidgeYaks (38-51, 13-11) defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds (32-58, 9-15), 4-2, on Sunday afternoon at Carilion Clinic Field to secure their second consecutive series victory.
Salem wasted little time grabbing control of the game in the opening inning. Skylar King singled and Andrews Opata was hit by a pitch before Salazar crushed a three-run homer, that just barely cleared over the left-field wall, his seventh of the season, giving the RidgeYaks an early 3-0 advantage.
Delmarva answered in the second inning with a pair of runs. Miguel Rodríguez and Elvin Garcia opened the frame with consecutive singles before Jose Perez moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Junior Aybar followed with an RBI single, and Rodríguez later stole home to trim Salem's lead to 3-2.
Leighton Finley settled in after the second and turned in a strong outing for the RidgeYaks. The right-hander retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced, allowing just four hits and two earned runs over five innings while striking out six to earn his fifth victory of the season.
Salem added an important insurance run in the fourth inning. Justin Barry lined a double into left field and later stole third before Givian Sirvania legged out an infield single to score Barry and extend the RidgeYaks' lead to 4-2.
The RidgeYaks threatened to add more throughout the afternoon, collecting 11 hits, including six doubles, but were unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities. Salazar finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI and a walk, while Ilan Fernandez added two hits. Sirvania, Barry, Andruw Musett and King also contributed hits in the victory.
After Finley exited, O'Donnell took over and was dominant out of the bullpen. The right-hander tossed four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out four to record the first save since 2024. He retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced, including strikeouts of Junior Aybar, DJ Layton, Elvin Garcia and Elvin Garcia, before inducing a game-ending groundout from Rodríguez.
Salem moves to 13-11 in the second half and with the loss from Fayetteville, the RidgeYaks take sole possession of first place in the Carolina League North Division standings.
With the win, Salem claims the weekend series win over Delmarva. The RidgeYaks will continue their homestand on Tuesday night when they open a six-game series against the Augusta GreenJackets at Carilion Clinic Field.
Game Notes:
- Trennor O’Donnell hurled a season long four innings and earned his second professional save in his career
- It was O’Donnell’s first save since August 15, 2024 at Fredericksburg
- Kleyver Salazar’s first inning home run was the seventh of his season and gives Salazar a team high 39 RBI
- Salazar saw three extra-base hits marking the second night in a row a Salem player saw three extra-base hits
- Salem has now homered in seven straight ballgames since July 9 and has seen 19 total home runs over their last 15 games since June 30
- Salem scored 25 runs over the three games of the series
- Since July 2, Salem has won nine of their last 13 games played, the Yaks leads the Carolina League since that stretch with a .300 average, 99 runs, 140 hits and 57 extra-base hits over their last 13
- Leighton Finley went five innings as the starter earning his team leading fifth win of the season
- Finley has now gone at least four innings in 12 of his 13 professional starts and has gone five innings on eight occasions
- Finley also leads the team with 67.2 innings of work and 67 strikeouts
- Salem used a season low two pitchers to get through the ballgame
- Justin Barry went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a season best six games, Barry also reached safely in his 10th straight game since June 25th
- The RidgeYaks hold sole possession of first place for the first time this season
- Salem has now won back-to-back series for the second time this season and their fourth overall series
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