Lynchburg manager P.J. Forbes sat on the seat of the groundskeeper's John Deere Gator with a 2-0 lead over Salem in the best-of-three Mills Cup championship series in his pocket and a dazed smile on his face on Tuesday night.

He had one worry on his mind.

"We're only two-thirds of the way there," Forbes said. "I wish there wasn't a day off."

The series resumes at 7:05 tonight with Game 3 at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The Red Sox must win tonight or the season is over and the Hillcats are the Carolina League champions. Salem must also win Games 4 and 5 on Friday and Saturday nights at 6:05 p.m. to win the league title.

"This team has fought back all year," said Salem reliever Kyle Fernandes. "We never quit. We've won five, six games in a row.

"There's no telling what this team can do."

That's exactly what had Forbes worried in the midst of his team's celebration after winning Game 2 on Tuesday.

His Hillcats had fallen behind and battled back twice to beat Wilmington in the Northern Division championship series just for the shot at playing Salem for the Carolina League title.

Salem had beaten Lynchburg three out of four in the final series of the season just to clinch a spot in the Southern Division series. Then the Red Sox swept Winston-Salem in three games and had to sit and wait two days while the Hillcats clawed their way into the series.

By Forbes' figuring, those two days off might've robbed Salem of a little bit of its "mojo." He recalled the Colorado Rockies' 2007 run, where they won 21 of 22 games at the end of the regular season and through the playoffs. But thanks to a sweep in the National League Championship Series, and the Boston Red Sox's seven-game victory in the American League series, the Rockies had an eight day wait for the start of the World Series, compared to just three days for Boston.

The Red Sox swept the Series.

Forbes was afraid that Wednesday's off day might give Salem a chance to recapture its mojo, or give the Hillcats' mojo an opportunity to stray.

"Come Thursday, it's got to be the same focus, the same intensity, the same desire to get it done now," Forbes said.

Salem doesn't have a choice. If it doesn't get it done now, there is no baseball tomorrow.

The Red Sox are sending Kyle Weiland to the mound against Lynchburg's Jeff Locke. Weiland, a third-round draft pick in 2008, hasn't given up more than three earned runs in a start since the end of May. Locke, a second-round pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2007, hasn't been nearly as consistent but he shut out Salem through 6 ²₃ on Sept. 6.

Salem got a three-run homer from left fielder Chih-Hsien Chiang Tuesday night, and Chiang has hit .400 in the playoffs with two homers and four RBIs.

Jon Hee, who hit .236 in the regular season, has hit .573 in the playoffs and also has four RBIs.

Brad Correll had two two-run homers against Winston-Salem, and an RBI groundout against Lynchburg, but is hitting .250 for the playoffs.

Chase d'Arnaud is leading the Hillcats with seven RBIs in the playoffs, but is hitting .214.

Matt Hague is hitting .346 in the postseason and Alex Presley (.313) and Jose de los Santos (.304) are both hitting well for the Hillcats.

At least they were before the off day on Wednesday.