Winston-Salem 6, Buies Creek 4
W: Blake Battenfield (2-1)
L: Carson LaRue (4-6)
S: Danny Dopico (5)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (July 15, 2018) – Behind a 13-hit effort from the Dash offense and a quality start from Blake Battenfield, Winston-Salem defeated the Buies Creek Astros 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at BB&T Ballpark.
Gavin Sheets had a career-best four hits, going 4-for-4 in the contest with a double and three singles. Zach Remillard tallied four RBIs while going 2-for-4 in the win, including a three-run homer and an RBI single.
Meanwhile, right-hander Blake Battenfield (3-1) worked seven innings while allowing three earned runs on five hits and striking out nine to earn his third win at the High-A level.
Winston-Salem (16-8, 57-37) took the lead against Buies Creek (16-9, 53-41) right-hander Carson LaRue (4-6) in the bottom of the second. After Sheets and Yermin Mercedes both singled to lead off the inning, Laz Rivera laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Then, with two outs in the inning, Remillard launched his ninth home run of the season to left field to put the Dash up 3-0.
Remillard proceeded to drive in another run in the bottom of the fourth for his fourth RBI of the day. Yeyson Yrizarri singled with one out, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Carlos Canelon. Later in the at-bat, Remillard stroked an RBI single to left field to give the Dash a four-run edge. Remillard would later score on a double from Luis Gonzalez to make it a 5-0 contest.
Battenfield cruised through four scoreless innings, but in the top of the fifth, the Astros cut the deficit to three. After Jake Adams worked a one-out walk and Canelon singled, Jonathan Arauz lined an RBI double. Then, with two outs, J.J. Matijevic reached on an error by Mitch Roman, allowing Canelon to score from third on the play.
In the top of the sixth inning, Ronnie Dawson added another run for Buies Creek by crushing a 2-0 pitch to deep right field to make it a 5-3 contest.
The Astros proceeded to make it a one-run game with another solo home run in the top of the seventh, as Canelon homered to left field to lead off the inning.
Winston-Salem added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 6-4 game. After Rivera and Yrizarri both singled to lead off the inning, Gonzalez drove in Rivera with a sacrifice fly to right.
Right-hander Danny Dopico replaced Battenfield in the eighth and pitched two perfect innings to close out the victory and earn his fifth save of the season.
The Dash will close out the series with Buies Creek on Monday at 7 p.m., when right-hander Lincoln Henzman (0-1, 7.78 ERA) squares off with right-hander Abdiel Saldana (7-1, 3.01 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. and fans can catch all the action on wsdash.com/broadcast, MiLB.tv and the TuneIn Radio App. Fans in the Chicago area can also watch live on NBC Sports Chicago.
