RED SOX COLLAPSE AGAINST ORLEANS AND DROP FURTHER IN EAST STANDINGS
The high that players were riding after the Cape Cod League All-Star Game at Fenway Park was over, and it was back to the grind for four more games in the regular season before a hopeful playoff run. The YD Red Sox (18-19-4) were bunched in the Eastern Division with Harwich, Brewster, and Orleans, jockeying for position to claim home-field advantage in the first round. The Orleans Firebirds (21-17-3) came to Red Wilson Field on Saturday looking to stir things up and they did just that by exploding for six runs in the seventh inning to steal a win away from the helpless Red Sox.
YD Red Sox players accounted for three of the four runs scored for the Eastern Division in the All-Star Game and therefore counted on that productivity to translate when they returned back to the Cape. Mason Katz drove in Stephen Piscotty on a double and eventually rounded all four bases after two throwing errors by the Western Division, and James Ramsey belted a solo home run into the right field bullpen. So spirits were high for Red Sox players once they descended from their cloud nine experience at Fenway.
Alex Gonzalez started on the mound for the Red Sox on Saturday sporting an impressive 2.27 ERA in six starts this season. He made pitching look easy through the first six innings scattering eight hits across that span and always seeming to escape threatening jams. He found himself with runners on second and third with one out in the third inning, runners on the corners with two outs in the fourth, and runners on first and second with one out in the fifth, yet the calm demeanor of Gonzalez allowed him to assess the situation and escape each inning unscathed.
His teammates positioned Gonzalez to take the win in this game. Although the hitting wasn’t spectacular with solid pitching a team only needs a couple runs to secure the win. The Red Sox scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning that started with a leadoff single by left fielder Stephen Piscotty. After Mason Katz struck out swinging, first baseman Anthony Melchionda grounded into a fielder’s choice leaving himself at first rather than Piscotty. Matt Wessinger took a base on balls to put two runners on with two outs when right fielder Mike O’Neill delivered a single that ripped through the infield and drove in Melchionda from second.
The lead remained 1-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning when YD struck again. This time third baseman Matt Reynolds laced a double down the left field line to begin the inning. He moved to third on a James Ramsey ground out to the shortstop. After Piscotty walked, Katz drove a deep ball to center field that was caught but brought in Reynolds from third for the second Red Sox run.
Gonzalez now pitching with a 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh hoped to fight through the inning with everything he had left. Unfortunately, a mistake by Coach Pickler to leave Gonzalez in far too long during the chaotic seventh cost the Red Sox the game. A couple difficult plays also sustained the life of the inning that never seemed to end.
After retiring the first batter of the inning, Gonzalez walked the next and allowed a single to the following batter putting runners on the corners with one out. Ninth hitter Ronnie Shaeffer then blooped a single to left field that Piscotty misplayed letting it drop. This brought in Jayce Boyd from third and moved Tarran Senay from first to third and Shaeffer to second on a throwing error by Piscotty attempting to get the ball back in to the infield. The mayhem continued for Gonzalez against the next batter Matt Lowenstein who hit a ground ball right at second baseman Matt Wessinger but the ball hit the lip on the field and jumped right over Wessinger’s head. This drove in Senay from third to tie the game on a ball that definitely would have ended the inning via the double play.
Gonzalez surrendered one more single to Anthony Gomez (the fourth straight single) to bring in Shaeffer and give Orleans the 3-2 lead. Zack Weiss entered and faced two batters allowing another single and a walk for the fourth Orleans run and leaving the bases loaded for reliever Andrew Thurman. After a fielder’s choice and a sixth single of the inning drove in two more Orleans runs, Thurman finally retired Boyd on a ground out to end the inning.
Orleans brought eleven batters to the plate in the seventh inning, six of them scored, to rob the Red Sox of the lead and take it 6-2. Gonzalez, who had pitched well through six innings, left the game with a line of 6 1/3 innings pitched, eleven hits, and five earned runs.
The Red Sox would grab a run back in the top of the ninth when a pinch hit single by Connor Harrell and Matt Wessinger’s second double of the game placed runners on second and third with one out. A one out ground out by Brian Johnson drove in Harrell but that was all the Red Sox would get in the inning as they dropped their second straight game after a four-game win streak, 6-3.
The Red Sox face the team with the best record in the league, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks (27-13), tomorrow, Sunday, at 7 PM in Hyannis.
--Ben Stepansky
