MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-Winston-Salem, NC (July 7, 2009) – Winston-Salem used six strong innings from Jacob Rasner and a dominant effort from the bullpen to blank Salem 2-0 on Tuesday night at Wake Forest Baseball Park. The Dash’s pitching effort overshadowed the performance from Casey Kelly, who’s next and likely last pitching appearance of the season will come in this Sunday’s Futures Game in St. Louis. Kelly, who will be converted to a shortstop following the weekend showcase, allowed just one run on six hits in six innings, but suffered his fourth loss in eight starts with Salem. Over his eight outings, the Red Sox provided a grand total of 21 runs in offense support, about 2.6 per game.

Neither Rasner nor Kelly allowed a run over the first five innings, but with two outs in the last of the sixth, Seth Loman and Salvador Sanchez popped back-to-back doubles off Kelly to take a 1-0 lead. They represented the only extra-base hits of the night for the Dash, but were more than enough for Winston’s bullpen that would take over in the seventh.

Nate Jones and Miguel Socolovich combined to retire all nine batters they faced over the final three innings, with Jones tossing two overwhelming frames before Socolovich closed it out in the ninth. Jones struck out the side in the seventh to begin the dominant stretch.
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Salem’s best offensive chance came in the fourth inning when Yamaico Navarro’s one out single was followed by Anthony Rizzo’s ground-rule double, placing two runners in scoring position with only one away. After Luis Exposito struck out, David Mailman walked to load the bases. With two away, Rasner induced a lazy fly ball to right from Zach Borowiak, and the Red Sox left three on base. In the game, the Sox stranded six and went 0-4 with runners in scoring position.

The Dash added their second run in the eighth off reliever Jason Rice. Following a leadoff walk and a single, Rice got Jimmy Gallagher to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Two outs were recorded, but he lead baserunner, Dale Mollenhauer, advanced to third. A 2-2 pitch erratically bounced past the catcher and Mollenhauer scored on the wild pitch to provide the important insurance run, making the score 2-0.

Mollenhauer finished 2-3 with a walk for Winston-Salem, while Navarro was the only member of the Sox with multiple base-knocks, also going 2-3 with a walk. Exposito, 7-8 over his past two games played, went hitless in four at-bats on Tuesday as his average dipped below .300, to .296.

The Dash win evens the series at one apiece, with Wednesday’s tilt set for 7:00. Bryan Price will oppose Anthony Carter in game three of the four-game set.

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