Winston-Salem 12, Buies Creek 10 (F/10)
W: Daniel Gonzalez (1-0)
L: Colin McKee (1-1)
S: None
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (July 16, 2018) – Thanks to a walk-off grand slam from Laz Rivera, Winston-Salem defeated the Buies Creek Astros 12-10 in 10 innings on Monday night at BB&T Ballpark.
Going into the bottom of the 10th inning, the Dash (17-8, 58-37) were down 10-8. After JJ Muno was placed on second to begin the inning, Yeyson Yrizarri singled and Yermin Mercedes was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then, with two outs, Rivera crushed a 1-0 pitch from right-hander Colin McKee (1-1) into the Foothills Brewpen for a grand slam to give the Dash the victory. Rivera’s walk-off grand slam is the first for Winston-Salem since Zack Collins hit one against the Carolina Mudcats in the 11th inning on July 10, 2017.
Buies Creek (16-10, 53-42) jumped on Dash right-hander Lincoln Henzman in the top of the first. After Jacob Meyers doubled to left to lead off the game and advanced to third on a groundout from J.J. Matijevic, Osvaldo Duarte reached on a bloop single to right that put Buies Creek on the board.
The Astros doubled their lead in the top of the second to make it a 2-0 contest. Buies Creek loaded the bases with one out on a single from Jake Adams, a fielding error by Ti’Quan Forbes and a single from Jonathan Arauz. Henzman limited the damage to one run by inducing a sacrifice fly from Meyers to right field and then a groundout to first from Matijevic.
In the top of the fourth, the Astros tacked on two more runs against left-hander Ian Clarkin, who replaced Henzman to begin the third. Cody Bohanek doubled to lead off the inning, then scored on a single from Chuckie Robinson. With two outs in the inning, Meyers doubled to left to make it a 4-0 contest.
After right-hander Cameron Seitzer replaced Clarkin in the top of the fifth, Osvaldo Duarte led off the inning with a solo homer to left center to add another run for Buies Creek.
The Dash began to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth. After Mercedes, Zach Remillard and Luis Gonzalez all walked to load the bases, Blake Rutherford stroked a two-run single up the middle to put Winston-Salem within three.
Buies Creek answered in the top of the seventh, though, plating three runs against left-hander Kyle Kubat. After Ronnie Dawson walked and Bryan De La Cruz singled, Jake Adams stroked a two-run double to center, then scored on a single from Robinson.
Winston-Salem came storming back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six runs in the inning. Remillard and Gonzalez led off with back-to-back singles. Then, after Rivera reached on a catcher’s interference to load the bases with no outs, Rutherford was hit by a pitch from left-hander Patrick Sandoval to force in a run. Gavin Sheets followed with an opposite-field RBI double, and Mercedes tied the game with a two-run double to left.
Buies Creek retook the lead in the top of the tenth against a position player in Daniel Gonzalez (1-0), who is one of three backstops on the Dash’s active roster. After Jonathan Arauz was placed on second to begin the inning and Meyers singled, Matijevic lined a two-run single to right to make it a 10-8 game. However, Gonzalez, who was making his first High-A outing, limited the damage by retiring the next three to help set up Rivera’s game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the 10th.
After a scheduled off day on Tuesday, the Dash resume play against the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. as left-hander John Parke (2-1, 3.38 ERA) takes the mound for Winston-Salem.
Meanwhile, the Dash return to BB&T Ballpark on Tuesday, July 24, for a three-game series against the Frederick Keys. Promotions for the homestand include a Free Food Tuesday, a camp day on Wednesday and a Lowes Foods Thirsty Thursday. For tickets and more information, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com
