Photo courtesy of Carolina Mudcats
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April 24, 2024
Zebulon, NC– The Carolina Mudcats (14-3) played host to the Salem Red Sox (6-11) in a thrilling daytime contest. The win extended their winning streak to 2 in a row and 6 of their last 7 dating back to last Wednesday. The Mudcats now sit 3 games ahead of the Fredericksburg Nationals (10-6) in the North Division.
Daniel Corniel made his 3rd start of the season for the red hot Mudcats. Corniel went 4.2 strong innings of 1-run ball while striking out 6 and only allowing 1 walk. Yujanyer Herrera finished the last 4.1 innings with 6 strikeouts as well giving him his 3rd win on the season. Cooper Pratt made his return to the lineup after going on the IL on April 13th, and finished 1-3 with an RBI.
Both teams struggled with plating any runs through the first 4 innings until the top of the 5th when Salem would score the first 2 runs off a 2 run-double by Albert Feliz. In the bottom half, Mudcats were able to cut the lead to 2-1 off the strength of a Blayberg Diaz solo shot to left center.
In the bottom half of the 6th, the Mudcats were able to scrape together 2 runs on 2 hits. The Mudcats were able to load the bases and plated their runs off an RBI-single and double play giving them the lead 3-2 after 6. In the top of the 7th, Salem tied the game at 3 on a sacrifice fly by Albert Feliz. In the bottom half of the 7th. Kay-Lan Nicasia scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Mudcats a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the 8th, the Mudcats defense made several highlight plays to hold Salem to 0 runs. In the top of the 9th, Herrera struck out the side to slam the door.
After the game manager Nick Stanley meet with the media. He provided his thoughts about the performance of his pitching today:
“They go after guys, they throw their best stuff, and however the game plays out on offense it plays out, but from their standpoint they just keep on pitching.”
When asked about Cooper Pratt’s return to the lineup Stanley said:
“Yeah, it was great. The best part is that he did what he was supposed to do. He left the game feeling great feeling healthy, so yeah good to have him back.”
The Mudcats improved to 14-3 on the season while Salem fell to 6-11. The Mudcats are back in action tomorrow night at 6:30 pm at Five County Stadium.
