Costly errors and hot Salem Red Sox batting doomed the Down East Wood Ducks to an 8-4 loss in front of the biggest Historic Grainger Stadium crowd of the season on Saturday.

In front of 3,008 fans on a jersey giveaway night, the game was shaping up to be a pitching duel. However, the Red Sox scored two unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning following Anderson Tejeda’s throwing error while he was attempting to start a double play.

The Woodies (4-6 second half, 39-41 overall) bounced back in the bottom half of the frame with three runs of their own. The DEWD offense started with a bases-loaded Red Sox error that scored Andretty Cordero. Alex Kowalczyk’s earned an RBI the hard way when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Eric Jenkins closed the fourth-inning scoring with a fielder’s choice RBI.

The Red Sox tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth, took the lead in the seventh, 4-3, and put the game out of reach in the eighth with a four-spot that was a result of another costly Wood Ducks error, this time by Brendon Davis on a fielding miscue.

Tejeda cut the lead to the final margin with a solo home run, his 12th of the season, in the bottom of the eighth.

The Woodies were held to four hits and Tejeda had half of those with his 2-for-3, two-RBI performance. Yohander Mendez received a no-decision despite scattering five hits in his six innings of work. While he gave up three runs, only one was earned and his ERA remained microscopic at 1.46.

Salem (5-4, 37-40) banged out nine hits and were led by two-hit performances by C.J. Chatham, Michael Osinski and Chris Madera. Algenis Martinez earned the victory with four innings of two-hit pitching in relief of starter Bryan Mata, who was chased after four innings.

There was a scary moment in the fifth inning for DEWD left fielder Josh Altmann. With one out, he pursued a long foul ball and flipped over the Woodies’ bullpen fence at full speed and laid on the ground for about two minutes while being attended to by the team’s athletic trainer, Alex Rodriguez. However, Altmann got up and was able to finish the game.

The Woodies and Red Sox resume their series at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Grainger Stadium. Children 12-and-under get to run the bases after the game and Wood Ducks pitchers Yohander Mendez and Emerson Martinez will sign autographs in the pregame, courtesy of Cricket Wireless of Kinston.