November 9, 2001

Salem Crushes Gillette 11-4

GILLETTE, NJ - For the second time this series, the Salem Cowtippers posted double-
digit runs against the Gillette pitching staff.  Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield and Jeff
Bagwell each collected a pair of hits, and pinch hitter Lance Berkman added a two-run
home run.  Chuck Finley took the tough loss for Gillette, lasting only two innings
while giving up four earned runs on five hits.

Salem's offensive assault began immediately.  After Jason Kendall struck out in the 
first at-bat of the game, Salem ripped out four consecutive hits, including a double,
two singles and a three-run homer by Bagwell.  That gave them an early 4-0 lead.

The bottom-third of the Gillette lineup mounted a rally in the second inning when they
loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk.  With two outs, Finley was due to
hit.  But Gillette manager John Bochicchio recognized the prime scoring opportunity in
front of him, so he pulled Finley in favor of pinch hitter Bill Spiers.  Spiers 
responded with a two-run single that just barely went under the glove of second base-
man Jeff Kent.

In the third, Kent got one of those runs back when he hit a line drive to center field
that Johnny Damon wasn't able to handle.  That made it a 5-2 game.

An RBI double by Sammy Sosa in the fifth off Carrasco's 48th pitch of the game gave
Salem another run.  Geoff Blum then got that run back by leading off the Gillette half
of the fifth with a home run.  The next batter, Albert Belle, connected for a double,
and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  But with no outs, Salem starter Bruce Chen
managed to strand that runner at third.

Berkman led off the sixth with his homer off Jeff Tam, reclaiming Salem's three-run
lead.  But Gillette got that run back in the bottom half of the inning when Mike Myers
uncorked a wild pitch with two outs and a runner on third.

In the seventh, Salem added another leadoff homer when Bobby Abreu took Tam deep into
the Jersey night.  In the bottom half of that inning, Gillette again stranded a runner 
at third with no outs when Geraldo Guzman retired Juan Gonzalez and Andres Galarraga
on shallow fly balls, and Adam Bernero retired Darrin Fletcher on a line-out to short.

Salem added another run in the eighth, and two more in the ninth, while Bernero retired 
the side in order in the eighth and ninth.

"Another great effort by the Salem pitching staff," said Salem manager Mike Glander.
"Our offense was consistently relentless, and our pitching kept us in the game.  That's
a pretty good formula for winning."