Down East 7, Winston-Salem 6
W: Peter Fairbanks (2-1)
L: Bernardo Flores (0-1)
S: Scott Williams (1)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (July 4, 2017) – Before 9,007 fans, the largest crowd in BB&T Ballpark history, the Dash’s comeback effort came up just short as the Down East Wood Ducks pulled out a 7-6 victory in Tuesday’s Fourth of July contest.
This year’s Independence Day game shattered the ballpark’s previous record of 8,184 fans, which occurred on July 4, 2014. The downtown facility has welcomed more than 8,000 fans in each of the last four Fourth of July games.
Buoyed by a packed house, the Dash (5-8, 29-54) jumped out to an early lead against righty Emerson Martinez. Joel Bookersparked the Dash’s offense by roping a one-out single through the left side of the infield. Zack Collins followed with a walk, and, two batters later, Brady Conlan grounded a run-scoring single off the glove of shortstop Brallan Perez and into left field, scoring Booker to give Winston-Salem a 1-0 edge.
However, the Wood Ducks (7-5, 31-50) used the long ball in the third inning against Dash starter Bernardo Flores (0-1) to take the advantage. With a runner on third and one down, Matt Lipka gave Down East the lead by smacking a two-run shot to the Foothills Brew Pen in left-center. Only two batters later, Yanio Perez blasted another homer to the Brew Pen to make it a 3-1 contest.
Telvin Nash helped cut the deficit to one with an RBI double in the bottom of the third, but Down East posted back-to-back two-run frames in the fourth and fifth. The latter of those two innings included the second blast of the game by Yanio Perez, a two-run shot to left.
Flores finished with 4.1 innings of work in his second career High-A start, yielding eight hits and seven runs while walking three and striking out three.
Drew Hasler continued his run of excellence at BB&T Ballpark after relieving Flores on Tuesday. The right-hander stemmed the tide and did not allow a hit in a career-high 4.2 innings of work to lower his career ERA at the downtown facility to 0.21 (1 ER in 42.1 IP).
Trailing 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Dash methodically cut into the deficit. Danny Mendick walked to lead off the inning, and Jameson Fisher singled to put runners on first and second. Following a fielder’s choice by Booker, Collins grounded an RBI single to right to make it a four-run game.
After Nash drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, Conlan blooped a run-scoring single to left. Toby Thomas capped the scoring in the frame with an RBI walk.
Collins brought home the Dash’s final run in the sixth against Peter Fairbanks (2-1), beating the shift with an RBI single into shallow right to drive home Mendick, who began the inning with a single. Fairbanks ultimately picked up the victory, dealing 2.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Scott Williams sealed his first save of the season with Down East, hurling two perfect innings.
#YourHomeTeam continues its three-game series at home against the Down East Wood Ducks at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Right-hander Jimmy Lambert (1-1, 4.09 ERA), who threw six hitless innings in his High-A debut on June 24 at BB&T Ballpark, gets the nod for the Dash against Woodies southpaw Brett Martin (1-2, 3.38 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m., and all of the action is available on wsdash.com/broadcast, MiLB.tv and the TuneIn Radio App.
Wednesday’s middle match against Down East marks the first Pups in the Park event in the month of July. Fans can bring their furry friend to the ballpark by calling (336) 714-6891 to purchase an $8 lawn ticket and a $5 pooch pass. For tickets and other information, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.
