In a game that was a lot closer than the score would tell, the Carolina Mudcats downed the Salem Red Sox 5-1. The win kept Carolina in a virtual tie with Myrtle Beach, who also won, and dropped Salem 3.5 back of Carolina. These are the kinds of games that Salem must win if they are going to jump into this race, and they did not take advantage of it tonight.

Red Sox starter Joe Gunkel was in trouble from the start. After retiring the first batter of the game, he would then give up back-to-back-to-back singles to Yhoxian Medina, Joe Sever and Yandy Diaz and was soon trailing 1-0.

In the top of the third Gunkel would find himself in trouble again. After retiring two of the first three batters of the inning, he would again give up three straight singles that would add two more runs to Carolina’s lead. Sever had the first hit of the inning, aiding another key rally, and LeVon Washington and Luigi Rodriguez each had RBI singles in the two-out rally.

Adam Plutko was pitching a good game for Carolina, but he got into a little trouble in the third inning himself. After getting the first two batters out, Matty Johnson would single to right field. Plutko would attempt to pick off Johnson but would throw wildly moving Johnson to second. Plutko would then throw a wild pitch that allowed Johnson to move to third. C Ryan Battaglia would attempt to throw out Johnson as he reached third, but his throw was errant and Johnson would score.

This cut the lead to 3-1, but it was the last serious threat the Red Sox would make on the night. The Mudcats on the other hand would add runs in the sixth and seventh and would win the game 5-1. Plutko (3-5) would pitch seven strong innings, giving up just five hits and walking none, while striking out four. It was a great return to the mound after being shelled by Wilmington for seven runs in 2/3 of an inning seven days ago.

The Mudcats put on quite the hitting display, pounding out 14 hits, all singles. Five Carolina players had at least two hits and four different players scored runs and had at least one RBI. If the Carolina hitters could have produced any kind of power to go with those hitting numbers, this game could have been a much more lopsided affair.

By Robert Pannier
Senior Baseball Editor
Member of the IBWAA