Red Sox Blanked in Saturday Night Affair with Charleston

SALEM, Va. — The Salem Red Sox (37-56, 11-18) were shut out in a nine-inning game for the first time in over a month, falling 5-0 to the Charleston RiverDogs (51-42, 16-11) on Saturday night at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

With the loss, Charleston clinches the week-long series, handing Salem its first series defeat since the All-Star break.

The game was delayed 40 minutes due to a pregame rainstorm, pushing first pitch back to 7:15 p.m.

What started as a tightly contested pitcher’s duel unraveled in the late innings as Charleston broke through with five runs across the seventh and eighth.

Yhoiker Fajardo, the newest Top 30 prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization, was sensational. The 18-year-old right-hander tossed 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out three in a no-decision. He exited with the game still scoreless.

Charleston starter Andres Galan matched him pitch for pitch. The right-hander went six shutout innings, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out two. He was credited with the win.

After Fajardo’s exit, reliever Calvin Bickerstaff came on in the sixth and retired the side. However, the seventh inning proved troublesome.

With one out, Larry Martinez and Ricardo Gonzalez tallied back-to-back singles, putting runners on for Yirer Garcia. The RiverDogs catcher laced an RBI single to right field, breaking the scoreless tie and putting Charleston up 1-0.

Bickerstaff struck out Xavier Guillen for the second out but couldn’t escape the jam. Theo Gillen, the No. 2 prospect in the Rays organization, jumped on a first-pitch fastball and drove it to center field to plate Gonzalez and extend Charleston’s lead to 2-0.

The Red Sox offense struggled to respond. After the fifth inning, Salem sent the minimum to the plate in innings six, seven, and eight. The Sox failed to move a runner into scoring position during that stretch.

Charleston piled on in the eighth. Martinez added an RBI single, Gonzalez delivered a sacrifice fly, and Garcia notched his second RBI of the night with another single to right. Two of those runs were charged to Bickerstaff, with the third belonging to Joe Vogatsky, who entered in relief.

Bickerstaff was tagged with the loss after two innings of work, allowing five hits, four earned runs, one walk, and recording two strikeouts.

Salem had a final chance to rally in the ninth. Frederik Jimenez was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, but Charleston closer Jadon Berkovich buckled down to retire the next three batters and secure the shutout victory.

In total, the Sox mustered just five hits and drew four walks. They brought just three runners into scoring position all game and had only 33 total plate appearances.

Despite the quiet offensive night, a few Red Sox hitters stood out. Kleyver Salazar walked in the fourth inning, extending his on-base streak to 15 games. Natanael Yuten went 2-for-4, recording Salem’s first two hits and continuing his hot stretch, he’s now hit safely in nine straight games and is putting up video game numbers in July.

Yosander Asencio went 1-for-3 with a double to extend his on-base streak to eight games, while Yoeilin Cespedes finished 1-for-3 with a walk, stretching his hitting streak to a season-best eight games.

Charleston outhit Salem 12-5 on their way to win number 51. The Red Sox will have one more chance to salvage a win in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at Carilion Clinic Field. Right-hander Jesus Travieso is slated to make his Single-A debut for Salem against Jacob Kmatz for the RiverDogs.