Frederick relief pitcher J.P. Martinez made it interesting, but the Keys held on to win a close one at home against the Salem Avalanche, 5-4.
Frederick was powered by a strong pitching performance from starter Jake Arrieta. The righty went 6.2 innings, allowed one unearned run on just two hits, walked three and struck out 7. After a shaky first inning that saw Arrieta walk two and give up a single, Arrieta settled down nicely, retiring eight in a row at one point. Arrieta finished off the strong performance by striking out four straight batters.

The Keys jumped all over the Avalanche early. Danny Figueroa led off the game with a walk, stole second, was sacraficed to third and scored on a Chris Amador RBI single. In the bottom half of the third inning, the Keys tacked on three runs on five hits.

Frederick had an opportunity to break the game wide open in the seventh. The Keys loaded the bases with one man out. Catcher Mike Pierce struck out swinging, and right fielder Brandon Tripp fouled out to third to bail out the Avalanche.

That's when things got interesting. Salem center fielder Jordan Parraz led off the top half of the eighth with a solo homerun off Keys reliever Wilfrido Perez. Three batters later, with Greg Buchanan on and two men out, left fielder Cesar Quintero hit a two-run blast to pull the Avalanche to within one.

Martinez came on in the ninth to close it out. Salem right fielder Orlando Rosales reached with one man out on a Miguel Abreu throwing error. With two men out in the inning, Martinez hit Parraz with a pitch, and walked Avalanche catcher Koby Clemens to load the bases. Martinez then induced a ground out to second base to end the ball game and pick up his first save of the season.

Game two of this three-game set between the Keys and the Avalanche is tomorrow night, at 7 PM, at Harry Grove Stadium. For ticket information, contact the Keys box office at 1-877-8-GO-KEYS.