Aaron McFarling

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And there it went. Higher than high, deeper than deep, a pretty thing erasing all the ugly.

Life!

Say what you will about the Salem Avalanche. This team is far from consistent, sometimes sloppy in the field, often punchless at the plate. But on Thursday night, these guys showed us a few things. Among them: Resiliency, heart, character.

Life.

Much of the big crowd at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium had gone home by the time Hunter Pence turned on the first pitch he saw in the sixth inning, crushing it far over the 401-foot sign in center, reviving the home team's pennant hopes.

A sweep is what this team had to have, and a sweep is what it got, rallying for five runs in the sixth for a 5-2 win over Wilmington that pulled the Avs closer to Southern Division leader Winston-Salem. One game back. Four games left.

Holding on to life.

Now, let's not fool ourselves. The Blue Rocks aren't exactly the '27 Yankees. Need proof? Well, they were laughing on the mound during a blowout. Down by 13 runs to Salem in the first game Thursday, the Blue Rocks had brought Jeff Ontiveros, their burly DH, in to pitch. So there were their infielders, gathered around the rubber, covering their faces with their gloves, chuckling away their pain.

The season's over for Wilmington. Has been for some time. Which is what had made Wednesday's doubleheader sweep so maddening for Salem.

You have to beat teams like this. Last in the Carolina League in hitting. Mediocre pitching. Dreadful on the road.

"It's bitter-sweet," Pence said after Thursday's games. "We had a chance yesterday to put ourselves in a good position. But at least we got the job done today.

"We know our backs are against the wall. We have to win every time out."

A quick word here about minor-league priorities. Talking about the playoffs is nice, and making the postseason is an obvious goal for the team, but that's not why these guys are playing. This is a developmental league. Nobody's guaranteed a job tomorrow. At this level, going 4-for-5 with three RBI trumps a team victory every time.

The organization reinforces this notion. On Tuesday, the Astros let Salem's best hitter, Ben Zobrist, leave to join Team USA. On Thursday, Houston promoted Avs outfielder Wilton Reynolds to Triple-A Round Rock.

Such roster shuffling complicates the final push. On Thursday, the Avs staked their hopes on a call-up from low-A Lexington who got into town Wednesday night. When right-hander Jimmy Barthmaier spotted general manager Jamie Toole on the concourse, he extended his hand and said: "I'm the new guy."

"I had no idea who he was," Toole said. "I don't know if he drove here or flew here. Could have been beamed up for all I know."

Barthmaier took the mound, without a name on the back of his jersey, and proceeded to shut down Wilmington for five innings. By the time he began to tire, Salem led 15-2.

Life.

One night after flailing at bad pitches and scoring a total of one run in two games, the Avs were suddenly lashing balls off the wall.

But that's the thing about this team: The good times don't usually last long. In the second half, the Avs have posted three winning streaks of four games or more. But they also have four three-games losing streaks, including the one this week.

So in the nightcap, it was no big surprise that the Avs went back to the whiffing. Former University of Virginia lefty Andrew Dobies was fantastic for Wilmington through the first five innings, and the Blue Rocks clung to a 2-0 lead that felt more like 10-0.

"It's funny that two hours ago we were having fun and teeing off," first baseman Mario Garza said. "Then we find ourselves struggling to get a hit."

But then a strange thing happened: A late, season-saving rally. Jeff Mackor walked. Jonny Ash singled. Edwin Maysonet singled to cut the lead in half. When Garza stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and no outs, the Avs were standing on the top step of the dugout, sensing the shift in momentum.

"You could feel a big inning coming," Pence said.

Garza tied it with a sacrifice fly. Then two batters later, Pence took a huge cut at a fastball. The crowd came to its feet. The center fielder raced back, then looked up, then gave up.

Around here, they call that life.