Mike Thompson peeled the number 35 off the dugout wall Sunday night.

"It's 34 now," he said after the Avalanche scored a 7-5 victory over the Potomac Nationals at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The number is Thompson's estimate of Salem's "magic number," the number of wins it needs over the next two months to win the Carolina League's Southern Division second-half title.

The Avalanche (9-7) and Kinston are one game behind division-leading Myrtle Beach (10-6). Winston-Salem (10-7) is a half-game back.

Salem had won five straight games on the road, then lost a 5-1 decision to the Potomac at home Saturday. But it got back to its new-found winning ways Sunday with seven runs on 10 hits.

"It's nice to see some of the guys in the middle of the lineup driving in some runs," Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said.

Neil Sellers, Mario Garza, Francisco Caraballo and Lou Santangelo each had two hits for Salem. Santangelo, who tripled and scored twice, drove in two runs, as did Caraballo.

"The confidence level is definitely up," Santangelo said. "We're starting to swing the bats. The pitchers have been doing it all year, but I'm not sure in a game like this in the first half if we would've been able to win."

The Avalanche fell behind 3-1 in the third, but Beau Torbert and Sellers led off the Salem fourth with singles. With one out, Santangelo, who'd gotten the wind knocked out of him by a foul tip in the top of the inning, belted a ball into right-center field.

"I was just going to keep going until Panko held me up and I didn't see any hands go up," Santangelo said. The two-run triple put Santangelo in a third-place tie among the Carolina League's triples leaders with four and also tied the score at 3.

Caraballo then singled to center to give Salem a lead it would not relinquish.

The Avalanche added three more runs in the sixth inning, two unearned, for enough cushion to withstand Potomac's two-run rally.

Notes

The Avalanche has designated today "Monkey Business Monday" in honor of the Mill Mountain Zoo's wayward macaque Oops, who just returned to the zoo Sunday after a nearly weeklong walkabout. In addition to the regular $1 admission available to fans with coupons from The Roanoke Times, anyone bringing a banana to the box office will also be admitted to the noon game for $1.

The Avalanche will also offer a half-price "Monkey Tracks" ice cream special, with optional Oops' poops (chocolate sprinkles), while supplies last and there will be a "hairiest back" contest for fans with a pair of season tickets on the line. ...

Pankovits said Edwin Maysonet will sit out today's game, taking advantage of Tuesday's off day to get some extra rest for his sore back.

"With both Drew [Sutton] and Wade [Robinson] healthy, there's no reason to rush him back," Pankovits said.

POTOMAC SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Chavez lf 2 2 1 0 Sutton 2b 4 0 1 1

Webb 2b 3 0 1 1 WRobinson ss 4 0 0 0

Bernadina cf 4 0 2 2 Torbert cf 4 1 1 0

Powell dh 4 0 1 0 Sellers dh 3 2 2 0

Ivany c 4 1 1 0 Garza 1b 4 1 2 0

Montz 1b 4 1 1 0 Santangelo c 4 2 2 2

Guerrero rf 4 0 1 2 Caraballo rf 4 1 2 2

Desmond ss 4 1 1 0 Cunningham lf 4 0 0 1

Yepez 3b 4 0 1 0 Thompson 3b 4 0 0 0

Totals 33 5 10 5 Totals 35 7 10 6

Potomac 102 000 002 -- 5

Salem 010 303 00x -- 7

E--Yepez (10), WRobinson (7). DP--Potomac 1, Salem 1. LOB--Potomac 4, Salem 5. 2B--Bernadina (12), Yepez (9), Montz (18), Caraballo (23), Sellers (23). 3B--Santangelo (4). SB--Ivany (8). CS--Yepez (9). PO--Bernadina. SF--Webb.

IP H R ER BB SO

Potomac

Everts L, 4-7 6 9 7 4 1 4

Pearson 2 1 0 0 0 0

Salem

Martinez W, 3-4 7 6 3 3 1 3

Wigdahl 1 1 0 0 1 1

Stiehl 1 3 2 2 0 0

Umpires--Warren, home; Buchanan, bases. T--2:19. A--1,787.

HOW THEY SCORED

Potomac first: Chavez singled. Webb flied out. Bernadina doubled; Chavez scored. Nationals 1, Avalanche 0.

Salem second: Sellers walked. Garza singled; Sellers to second. Santangelo singled; Sellers to third; Garza to second. Caraballo grounded into a double play; Sellers scored. Avalanche 1, Nationals 1.

Potomac third: Desmond singled. Yepez doubled; Desmond to third. Chavez walked. Webb flied out; Desmond scored. Yepez is caught trying to steal third; Chavez to second. Barnadina singled; Chavez scored. Nationals 3, Avalanche 1.

Salem fourth: Torbert singled. Sellers singled; Torbert to third. Garza popped out. Santangelo tripled; Torbert scored; Sellers scored. Caraballo singled; Santangelo scored. Avalanche 4, Nationals 3.

Salem sixth: One out. Garza singled. Santangelo grounded into a fielder's choice; Garza safe at second on a throwing error by third baseman Yepez. Caraballo doubled; Garza scored; Santangelo to third. Cunningham reached on a fielder's choice; Santangelo scored; Caraballo to third. Thompson popped out. Sutton reached on an infield single; Caraballo scored. Avalanche 7, Nationals 3.

Potomac ninth: Ivany singled. Montz doubled; Ivany to third. Guerrero singled and was thrown out going for second; Ivany scored; Montz scored. Avalanche 7, Nationals 5.