Twenty hours of driving leaves a man a lot of time to think.

Sean Walker put that time to good use, deciding to turn his demotion from double-A Corpus Christi to single-A Salem into an opportunity to work on the weakest part of his game -- keeping mentally tough.

"When you're younger you're better than everybody else, but when you get to high-A and double-A, the talent level evens out," Walker said. "There are phenoms, but ... being able to rise to the challenge mentally is the thing that sets one guy apart from the others.

"It's a good lesson for me to learn, but I had to learn it the hard way."

After a rough first outing on Friday, Walker pitched two shutout innings in his second relief stint on Saturday to hold the Avalanche close enough to at least contend before dropping a 6-4 Carolina League decision to the Kinston Indians at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The loss was Salem's fourth straight and third in a row to the Indians (24-18). As has been its downfall, the Avalanche (15-26) gave up a bunch of runs in a single inning, falling behind 5-0 before getting on the board in the fourth.

This time Salem's relievers and a nifty defensive play by first baseman Mark Ori stemmed the Indians' damage and the Avalanche was able to trim the lead and even bring the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth inning.

But that didn't mean Keith Bodie has any plans of trying to hang onto the Avalanche's reins once manager Jim Pankovits returns from his two-day trip to Richmond today. "No way," Bodie said. "This was enough."

Salem starter Sergio Severino gave up five runs -- four of them earned -- on seven hits, three walks and a hit batter in 3 ¹₃ innings.

And the Avalanche's first man out of the bullpen, Jordan Powell, might have suffered far worse damage than one run on four hits in 1 ²₃ innings if not for Ori's bases-loaded double play in the fifth inning, making an out at first and then firing home to save a run.

But down 5-1 after five innings, the Avalanche turned first to Jason Dominguez and then to Walker and the two of them were able to keep the Indians from piling on long enough for the Avalanche offense to make a game of it.

With two outs in the sixth, Roberto Mena singled, went to second on a walk by Jordan Parraz and scored on a single by Jhon Florentino.

Koby Clemens, who didn't make an out in his first four plate appearances, led off the seventh with a walk and went to third on a double by pinch hitter Collin DeLome. Clemens scored on a sacrifice fly by Greg Buchanan. DeLome, who'd tagged and advanced on Buchanan's fly out, scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Moresi to cut the lead to 6-4.

With two outs in the ninth, DeLome singled, but Buchanan grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.

Walker went 3-3 with a 4.20 ERA in just 20 games for Salem last season, sitting out much of the year with a broken ankle.

But the 6-foot-1, 175-pound, 25-year-old from San Diego struggled this year when he moved up to double-A.

Walker said he knew a dreaded call to the manager's office was probably coming. He knew he was 1-7 with a 7.24 ERA, but at the same time he was just getting his head around the importance of the mental side of pitching.

In his last outing in for the Hooks, Walker didn't allow a run in three innings.

But the call to manager office came anyway, and Walker decided to take the news that he was headed back down to Salem as good.

"It means they still believe in me," he said. "They could've just as easily released me."

Walker made the drive from Texas to Salem by himself.

"I just took the time to think and look at the beautiful land," Walker said.

HOW THE RUNS SCORED

Kinston third: Montero safe on an error by Goethals on a foul fly. Montero doubled. Santana struck out. Mills flied out. Romero walked. Rivero singled, Montero scored. Indians 1, Avalanche 0.

Kinston four: McBride singled. Cumberbatch singled and went to second on the throw, McBride to third. Infante popped out. Montero singled, McBribe scored, Cumberbatch to third. Santana singled, Cumberbatch scored, Montero to second. Mills hit by a pitch by Severino to load the bases. Powell relieved Severino. Romero flied out, Montero scored, Santana to third. Rivero singled, Santana scored. Indians 5, Avalanche 0.

Salem fourth: One out. Moresi singled. Goethals singles, Moresi to third. Mena flied out, Moresi scored. Indians 5, Avalanche 1.

Kinston fifth: McBride singled. Cumberbatch singled, McBride to second. Infante singled to load the bases. Montero reached on an error by Mena, McBride scored. Indians 6, Avalanche 1.

Salem sixth: Two outs. Mena singled. Parraz walked, Mena to second. Florentino singled, Mena scored. Indians 6, Avalanche 2.

Salem seventh: Clemens walked. DeLome doubled, Clemens to third. Buchanan flied out, Clemens scored, DeLome to third. Moresi flied out, DeLome scored. Indians 6, Avalanche 4.

KINSTON SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Montero cf 6 2 2 2 Parraz rf 4 0 1 0

Santana C 5 1 2 1 Florentino 3b 5 0 2 1

Mills 1b 4 0 0 0 Ori 1b 4 0 1 0

Romero 2b 2 0 1 1 Clemens dh 2 1 1 0

Rivero ss 4 0 3 2 Quintero lf 3 0 0 0

Drennen lf 4 0 0 0 DeLome lf 2 1 2 0

McBride dh 4 2 2 0 Buchanan 2b 4 0 0 1

Cumberbatch rf 5 1 3 0 Moresi cf 3 1 1 1

Infante 3b 4 0 1 0 Goethals c 4 0 1 0

Mena ss 2 1 1 1

Torres ss 1 0 0 0

Totals 38 6 14 6 Totals 34 4 10 4

Kinston 001 410 000 -- 6

Salem 000 101 200 -- 4

E--Rivero (17), Goethals (3), Mena (12). DP--Salem 1. LOB--Kinston 13, Salem 11. 2B--Montero (1), DeLome (9). S--Drennen. SF--Romero, Mena, Buchanan, Moresi. SB--Infante. CS--Florentino. PO--Florentino.

IP H R ER BB SO

Kinston

De La Cruz W, 2-1 5 6 1 1 3 6

Tseng 2 3 3 3 2 1

Tomlin 1 0 0 0 0 2

Pestano 1 1 0 0 0 1

Salem

Severino L, 0-4 3 1-3 7 5 4 3 2

Powell 1 2-3 4 1 1 0 1

Dominguez 2 1 0 0 1 0

Walker 2 2 0 0 1 1

WP--De La Cruz. HBP--by Severino (Mills). Umpires--Segal, home; Soucy, bases.

T--3:02. A--3,090.