STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Salem Red Sox catcher Luis Exposito (23) slides into second base before the Lynchburg Hillcats' Jose De Los Santos can make the tag.

STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Salem Red Sox shortstop Yamaico Navarro throws to first base as the Lynchburg Hillcats' Jamie Romak slides into second base.

The first 11 Lynchburg batters on Monday night all earned a quick trip back to the safety of the visitors' dugout.

Salem starter Kyle Weiland was "spectacular" at the start, said catcher Luis Exposito. But what really impressed Exposito was what happened when the polish rubbed off the rims.

Instead of running off the road, Weiland held onto his composure and the cushy lead his teammates had provided and the Red Sox scored a 6-2 Carolina League win over the Hillcats in front of 5,109 fans at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

Weiland had cruised through the first three innings, and didn't allow a baserunner until Jordy Mercer doubled in the fourth.

But in the fifth, Weiland found himself in a jam. He had a 5-0 lead, but the bases were loaded and there were no outs. Instead of panicking, Weiland struck out Eddie Prasch, got Chase d'Arnaud to fly out, and then struck out Jose de los Santos.

"It all started with his attitude," Exposito said. "You could see it in his body language; you could see it in his face. He was calm, confident. It was like a poker face."

Exposito said Weiland had been throwing his secondary pitches for strikes all night, though he got into the swamp with a leadoff walk and a pair of singles.

"He fought back," Exposito said. "He didn't back down. That last pitch, he got him with a good curveball."

Salem manager Chad Epperson called it a "turning point" in the game.

"He didn't let it get away from him," Epperson said. "He was able to shut them down."

Weiland went another two-third of an inning before coming out of the game. He has not allowed an earned run in his last two starts and has given up just two earned runs in his last six starts, dropping his ERA from 7.78 to 4.33.

"He's strung a few of those together now, and I still think there's a lot more there," Epperson said.

On Monday, Weiland got a big burst of run support in the early innings, something that has been much more prevalent in the second half of the season for the Red Sox (4-1).

Salem has had 65 hits in its first five games of the half, scoring 30 runs.

"We're getting back to the way we needed to be when we first started," Exposito said. "We're getting our pitches, sticking to our plans. We're doing our part with runners in scoring position."

Epperson, though, would like to see even more.

"I still think we can do better," Epperson said. "We had some opportunities to break this game open even more and we didn't. Championship-caliber clubs put guys away. We've got to continue to get better."

Che-Hsuan Lin led off with a homer and Salem scored five runs on seven hits and a Hillcats error in the first two innings.

Exposito, catching Monday after getting a day off Sunday, went 3-for-4 with an RBI and fellow catcher, serving as designated hitter Monday, Tim Federowicz went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

Epperson said the two will alternate time catching and DHing.

"Him being here is going to make me that much better," Exposito said.

Federowicz has hit 10-for-21 since joining the team at the All-Star break.

"That's the good thing about competition," Epperson said. "Exposito's been solid for us since the beginning. They'll be feeding off each other. It's kind of like five starters [pitchers] -- if you're going seven innings, I'm gonna go eight."

How the runs scored

Salem first: Lin homered. Place grounded out. Federowicz singled. Navarro singled, Federowicz to third. Rizzo flied out. Exposito singled, Federowicz scored, Navarro to third. Mailman reached and went to second on a throwing error by Prasch, Navarro scored. Red Sox 3, Hillcats 0.

Salem second: Negron singled. Negron to second on a wild pitch. Lin flied out, Negron to third. Place doubled, Negron scored. Federowicz singled, Place scored. Red Sox 5, Hillcats 0.

Lynchburg seventh: Keel doubled. Prasch grounded out, Keel to third. D'Arnaud flied out, Keel scored. Red Sox 5, Hillcats 1.

Lynchburg eigth: Mercer singled. Hague singled, Mercer to second. Watts flied out. Romak walked, Mercer to third, Hague to second. Presley grounded into a fielder's choice, Mercer scored. Red Sox 5, Hillcats 2.

Salem eighth: One out. Negron singled. Lin singled, Negron to third. Lin stole second. Place grounded out, Negron scored. Red Sox 6, Hillcats 2.

LYNCHBURG SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

D'Arnaud dh 4 0 0 1 Lin cf 5 1 2 1

De Los Santos 2b 4 0 1 0 Place rf 5 1 1 2

Mercer ss 5 1 2 0 Federowicz dh 5 1 3 1

Hague 1b 3 0 2 0 Navarro ss 4 1 2 0

Watts c 3 0 0 0 Rizzo 1b 4 0 1 0

Romak rf 2 0 0 0 Exposito c 4 0 3 1

Presley cf 4 0 1 1 Mailman lf 4 0 0 0

Keel lf 4 1 2 0 Borowiak 3b 4 0 0 0

Prasch 3b 4 0 0 0 Negron 2b 4 2 3 0

Totals 33 2 8 2 Totals 39 6 15 5

Lynchburg 000 000 110 -- 2

Salem 320 000 01x -- 6

E--Prasch (1), Navarro (2). DP--Lynchburg 1. LOB--Lynchburg 10, Salem 9. 2B--Mercer (23), Hague (12), Keel (7), Place (22), Navarro (4). HR--Lin (4). SF--D'Arnaud. SB--Negron (12), Lin (16).

IP H R ER BB SO

Lynchburg

Cheng L, 6-3 5 9 5 4 0 1

Robles 2 4 0 0 0 1

Castorri 1 2 1 1 0 1

Salem

Weiland W, 3-6 5 2-3 4 0 0 3 7

Miller 2 1-3 3 2 2 2 0

Loop 1 1 0 0 0 1

WP--Cheng 2.

Umpires--Home: Ashcraft; Bases: Blakney.

T--2:39.

A--5,190.