Edgardo Baez went back to the hotel Saturday night with a smile on his face and six more notches in the RBI column.

"I'm pretty excited about it," he said, balancing a plate of chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on his knees in the tunnel underneath Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. "It was a great night."

And it was, for Baez.

Not so much for the homestanding Salem Avalanche. Baez was the third visitor to the way-too-friendly confines of Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium this season to drive in six runs in a single game. On Saturday, Baez was but a single hammer in a 10-1 pounding of the Avalanche and its previously unshakable ace Polin Trinidad.

Salem is now 16-24 overall and 4-21 in the month of May.

Trinidad (3-2) had not gone fewer than six innings since April 10th and had not allowed a run in his past two starts -- a string of 14 straight innings -- before Saturday's start.

But something was amiss. Though he didn't give up a hit until the third inning, several of Potomac's outs came on fly balls to the outfield.

"We were talking about it. He was leaving some balls up," Baez said. "We were saying we have to be aggressive with it."

Potomac turned a single by Marvin Lowrance, an error by Salem third baseman Jhon Florentino and a double by Baez into a run in the fourth inning.

The next batter, Dee Brown, objected to being called out on strikes by umpire Dave Soucy and eventually Brown and Potomac manager Randy Knorr were both ejected by base umpire Chris Segal.

With the debate portion of the festivities behind them, and Potomac starter Joe Norrito wrapping up his five innings of two-hit, shutout baseball, the P-Nats got back to the business of scoring.

With two outs in the in the sixth inning, the next six P-Nats got hits. Matt Rogelstad doubled and scored on a single by Chris Marrero. Lowrance singled. Frank Diaz singled to score Marrero and then Baez doubled to score Lowrance and Diaz. Baez scored when Francisco Palencia -- Brown's replacement -- doubled.

"It seemed like every hit he gave up was a pitch up," Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said. "It's not characteristic of him. He usually gets ground balls. ... Things just weren't going our way. Which right now is us in a nutshell."

Notes

Left-hander David Qualben has been sent to low-A Lexington. He went 1-6 with a 6.81 ERA in eight starts with the Avalanche this season.

Chad Wagler, who has been on the Avalanche roster all season but not in Salem, will come off the injured reserved list to take his place.

Wagler, a 6-1, 185-pound right-hander from Hartville, Ohio, went 8-7 with a 5.07 ERA and five saves as a reliever in Lexington last season and spent the first six weeks of this season in extended spring training with a jammed toe.

Right-handed reliever Joel Santo (0-1, 3.21) will take Qualben's spot in the Avalanche starting rotation. ...

Kinston's Beau Mills and Myrtle Beach's Ernesto Mejia also had six-RBI games in Salem.

HOW THE RUNS SCORED

Potomac fourth: One out. Lowrance singled. Diaz reached on an error by Florentino, Lowrance to second. Baez doubled, Lowrance scored. P-Nats 1, Avalanche 0.

Potomac fifth: One fifth: One out. Rogelstad doubled. Marrero singled, Rogelstad scored. Lowrance singled, Marrero to third. Diaz singled, Marrero scored, Lowrance to second. Baez doubled, Lowrance scored, Diaz scored. Placensia doubled, Baez scored. P-Nats 6, Avalanche 0.

Potomac eighth: Solano singled. Martinez flied out. Rogelstad flied out. Marrerro doubled, Solano to third. Lowrance walked. Hallberg relieved Appell. Diaz singled, Solano scored, Marrero to third, Lowrance to second. Baez doubled, Marrero scored, Lowrance scored, Diaz scored. P-Nats 10, Avalanche 0.

Salem eighth: Clemens doubled. Van Ostrand grounded out. Rosales doubled, Clemens scored. P-Nats 10, Avalanche 1.

POTOMAC SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Martinez 2b 6 0 1 0 Florentino 3b 4 0 1 0

Rogelstad 3b 5 1 2 0 Torres ss 4 0 0 0

Marrero 1b 4 2 2 1 Parraz cf 3 0 0 0

Lowrance dh 3 3 2 0 Ori 1b 4 0 0 0

Diaz cf 5 2 3 2 Clemens dh 3 1 1 0

Baez rf 5 1 3 6 Van Ostrand lf 3 0 1 0

Brown lf 2 0 0 0 Rosales rf 3 0 1 1

Plasencia lf 3 0 1 1 Tellam c 3 0 0 0

Bynum ss 5 0 0 0 Buchanan 2b 3 0 0 0

Solano c 5 1 1 0

Totals 43 10 15 10 Totals 30 1 4 1

Potomac 000 150 040 -- 10

Salem 000 000 010 -- 1

E--Florentino (10). DP--Potomac 1. LOB--Potomac 9, Salem 3. 2B--Martinez (6), Baez (10), Rogelstad 2 (11), Plasencia (2), Diaz (10), Marrero (7), Clemens (12), Rosales (11).

IP H R ER BB SO

Potomac

Norrito W, 1-0 5 2 0 0 0 3

Lugo 1 0 0 0 0 0

Everts S, 1 3 2 1 1 1 2

Salem

Trinidad L, 3-2 5 9 6 6 1 1

Appell 2 2-3 4 3 3 1 2

Hallberg 1 1-3 2 1 1 0 0

WP--Trinidad. HBP--Lowrance (by Appell).

Umpires--Soucy, home; Segal, bases.

T--2:32. A--4,552.