Dash salvages doubleheader split with Red Sox

It seemed unlikely that the Winston-Salem Dash would turn to struggling Levi Maxwell to try to salvage a doubleheader split against the Salem Red Sox, but that's exactly what happened last night at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Michael, who entered the second game with a 4-14 record, pitched a no-hitter into the sixth and allowed just one run, with seven strikeouts and two walks as the Dash won 6-1.

The Red Sox won the first game 3-2.

Maxwell said he didn't feel any added pressure after the offense struggled in the first game.

"We're the type of team that can just bust out at any time," he said. "I wasn't worried about that at all. It didn't cross my mind. My job is just go out and put zeros on the board, that's just my job."

Winston-Salem, silent at the plate for most of the first game, started quickly in the second. Greg Paiml reached on a bunt base hit off starter Jose Capellan with one out in the first and scored on Salvador Sanchez's home run to deep left field.

Brent Morel grounded to Capellan for the second out, and Seth Loman followed with another grounder to Capellan. This time, Capellan lost control of the ball, picked it up and threw wildly past first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The rolled into the Salem bullpen, and Loman went to third on the play then scored on Justin Greene's single, making it 3-0.

Sanchez came off the disabled list Aug. 28.

"Having him back in the lineup, his presence alone is huge," Manager Joe McEwing of the Dash said. "He's playing really good baseball right now. It was a big hit."

Salem finally got to Maxwell in the sixth. Ryan Dent led off with a double off the top of the wall in left-center to end Maxwell's no-hit bid. Dent moved to third on Che-Hsuan Lin's grounder to second and scored on John Hee's grounder to second, making it 3-1.

The Dash came right back in the bottom of the sixth for three runs off reliever Jason Rice. Morel doubled to left-center and Loman walked. Greene laid down a bunt and reached on a single, but catcher Will Vazquez threw the ball past first and into the Red Sox bullpen, allowing Morel and Loman to score.. With John Curtis at bat, Rice threw a wild pitch, and Greene scored to make it 6-1.

"He threw a no-hitter earlier in the year," McEwing said. "He pitched a heckuva ballgame."

In the opener, the Red Sox scored quickly off starter Jacob Rasner. Che-Hsuan led off with a double to right, took third on a fielder's choice and scored on a sacrifice by Brad Correll.

Eammon Portice, who had a 7-7 record and 4.64 ERA, started for the Red Sox and didn't allow a hit until Loman's single up the middle to lead off the fifth.

Salem scratched across two runs against Rasner in the sixth. Rizzo drew a lead-off walk, and Correll's double over Greene's head in center put runners at second and third. Both scored on Mike Jones single to center as Salem went up 3-0.

Joe Persichina led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to center off Portice, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Sanchez's single to pull the Dash to 3-1.

The Dash loaded the bases in the seventh on two walks and a hit batter. Tyler Kuhn then grounded to third, and John Hee touched the bag for the force and the first out, then threw to first for the double play as Loman scored. With the Dash down 3-2 and a runner at second with two outs, Persichina popped to short to end the game.

The third game of the four-game series is scheduled at 7 p.m. today. Right-hander Stephen Fife (2-2, 4.19 ERA) will start for the Red Sox against right-hander Miguel Socolovich (3-3, 3.75).

First Game

Salem ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi

Lin cf 4 1 4 0 Mllhrer 2b 3 0 0 0

Hee 3b 3 0 0 0 Paiml ss 3 0 0 0

Rizzo 1b 2 1 0 0 Snchez rf 3 0 1 1

Correll rf 2 1 1 1 Morel 3b 3 0 0 0

Jones dh 3 0 2 2 Loman dh 2 1 1 0

Chiang lf 3 0 0 0 Jhnsn c 1 0 0 0

Mailman lf 0 0 0 0 Greene cf 2 0 0 0

Brwiak 2b 3 0 0 0 Kuhn lf 3 0 0 0

Vsquez c 3 0 1 0 Pschna 1b 3 1 1 0

Dent ss 3 0 0 0

Totals 26 3 8 3 Totals 23 2 3 1

Salem 100 002 0 -- 3


Winston-Salem 000 011 0 -- 2

DP--Winston-Salem 1, Salem 1. LOB--Salem 5, Winston-Salem 4. 2B--Lin (3), Correll. SB--Vazquez

Salem IP H R ER BB SO

Portice (8-7) 6 3 2 2 2 0

Fernandes (S, 2) 1 0 0 0 1 0

Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO

Rasner (4-6) 6 7 3 3 2 4

Jones 1 1 0 0 0 0

WP--Portice. HBP--Greene (by Fernandes). T--1:58. A--1,170

Second Game

Salem ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi

Lin cf 2 0 0 0 Mllhrer 3 0 0 0

Hee 3b 3 0 0 1 Paiml ss 3 1 1 0

Rizzo 1b 2 0 0 0 Snchez rf 3 1 1 2

Correll rf 3 0 0 0 Morel 3b 3 1 1 0

Fdrowcz dh 3 0 0 0 Loman 1b 2 2 0 0

Stanley lf 3 0 0 0 Greene cf 3 1 2 1

Brwiak 2b 3 0 0 0 Curtis c 2 0 0 0

Vazquez c 2 0 0 0 Pschna lf 3 0 0 0

Dent ss 2 1 1 0 Lang 2b 3 0 1 0

Totals 23 1 1 1 Totals 25 6 6 3

Salem 000 001 0 -- 1


Winston-Salem 300 003 x -- 6

E--Capellan, Vazquez, Lang. DP--Salem 0, Winston-Salem 0. LOB--Salem 3, Winston-Salem 4. 2B--Dent, Morel, Lang. HR--Sanchez.

Salem IP H R ER BB SO

Capellan (6-4) 3 3 3 2 1 3

Povich 2 0 0 0 0 1

Rice 1 3 3 3 1 1

Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO

Maxwell (5-14) 6 1 1 1 2 7

Luis 1 0 0 0 0 1

WP--Rice. HBP--Mollenhauer (by Capellan). T--1:51. A--1,170