PITCHERS DUEL CALLS FOR NINE INNING, 0-0 DRAW, IN ORLEANS

By: Tom Skulski, Intern

Pitching was the name of the game at Eldredge Park on Sunday night when the Y-D Red Sox took on the Orleans Firebirds. 

It was a well-fought nine inning battle between the Red Sox (3-2-2) and the Firebirds (2-3-1), but no one would claim victory because in the Cape League, there are no extra innings. The rationale behind this decision is to save pitcher arms and prevent any injury to the future of baseball. 

There are many mixed feelings about this rule, but Coach Pickler was very clear with his thoughts after the game. 

“I hate this nine inning thing. That’s such a good baseball game and we got plenty of daylight. Put a man on second and play ten innings. I understand us not going more than ten innings to save pitchers, but this is disappointing to the fans that we’re ending games at nine innings. We’ve got plenty of daylight, and these guys want to compete. I hate it,” Pickler said. 

This was the second time this season that the Red Sox ended a game with a tie score. 

The two hour and eight minute battle was by far the quickest of Y-D’s season, and featured Red Sox opening day starter, Luis Ramirez (Cal St Long Beach), who had an impressive outing. Ramirez finished the game with six innings pitched, two hits, and seven strikeouts. His ERA on the season has dropped to 0.82. 

Ramirez put a lot of emphasis this week on pitching backwards and mixing in his off speed pitches earlier in the count. This gives him a chance to catch the opposing hitter off-balance forcing him to swing and miss or make weak contact. 

Ramirez was more than happy with how he performed against Orleans, and is looking forward to his next start. 

“It felt good today for sure, I had everything in my arsenal. Having coach call the pitches today, I trusted him for sure and having the best defense out there feels great. Just a great feeling,” Ramirez said. 

The Red Sox were unable to string enough hits together to put a run across the board, but Y-D shortstop, Brooks Lee (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) continues to stay hot and after his two-hit performance at the plate, he is batting .407 this season.  

The Y-D offense still has lots of work to do, but they have managed a team batting average of .229 this season, which is 22 points higher than where they were after Wednesday’s loss in Wareham. 

On Monday, the Red Sox start the first of a three game home stretch as they take on the Brewster Whitecaps for the second time this season. In their first matchup, Y-D rode a late innings rally to tie the game 5-5. 

Drew Thorpe (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) is projected to get the start in tomorrow’s contest. His last time out, he pitched five scoreless innings with four strikeouts.