Robert Pehl went 3-3 with 3 RBI as the Red Sox pounded Brewster 9-3 Sunday night.
By: Corey Burns
After dropping back-to-back games to Orleans and Chatham, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox returned home Sunday beating the Brewster Whitecaps 9-3 at Red Wilson Field.
The Red Sox offense scored early and often having runners cross the plate in five of the eight innings they batted in. They were powered by Robert Pehl, hitting in the three-hole, and Carlos Asuaje in the leadoff spot.
?A lot of the hitters got early work today and just came out aggressive,? Pehl said. ?And that was a big key, jumping on fastballs as a team. That was the main thing, being aggressive and not missing that first pitch.?
Asuaje, from Nova Southeastern University, went 3-4 with a single, two doubles and was hit by a pitch. He reached base four out of five at bats, and crossed home plate each time he was on.
Pehl, a Washington Husky, played a major part in Asuaje?s night as well. Pehl went 3-3 with a walk and 3 RBI, Asuaje scoring each time.
The offense was backed by a combination of solid pitching. Chris Anderson, from Jacksonville, started for Y-D going 4.2 innings allowing three hits and three runs, while racking up six strikeouts. Yale?s Chris O?Hare relieved Anderson in the fifth, pitching 4.1 innings with four strikeouts, earning the win for the Red Sox.
?I think we kept our foot on the pedal, everyone stayed in the game, hitters had quality at bats, and our pitchers kept throwing good quality innings,? Pehl said. ?And our defense came to play today. When you put everything together we just played good ball.?
The offense poured it on from the beginning, scoring three runs in the home half of the first inning. Asuaje led off the inning being hit by a pitch. The Red Sox then rattled off three consecutive hits by Tyler Sciacca, Pehl and Sam Travis, putting the Sox up 2-0. Before the first came to an end, Kyle Convissar hit a sacrifice fly and drove in Pehl for the three-run lead.
The Y-D offense kept rolling in the second with a leadoff triple by Zak Blair, quickly driven in by Chris Sujka on a sacrifice fly. Asuaje followed with a double that forced the Whitecaps to make their first pitching change after 1.1 innings pitched by starter, Jake Kalish. Chase McDowell took over and Sciacca bunt singled advancing Asuaje to third. Pehl hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Asuaje, before Travis? groundout to end the inning.
Chris Sujka got the bats going in the fourth with a one out double, and then advanced to third when a ball got away from the Brewster catcher during the next at bat. Sciacca drove in Sujka with a groundball base hit to give Y-D a 6-0 after four.
The Whitecaps got some revenge in the top of the fifth when Anderson started having some control issues. He hit back-to-back batters that gave Brewster first and second with no out.
After a visit by the pitching coach, Anderson struck out pinch hitter Scott Carcaise, but followed that strike out with a nine-pitch battle that resulted in a Brewster walk to load the bases. Anderson battled again striking out Dan Olinger leaving himself with a bases loaded, two out situation. The Jacksonville right-hander got two strikes on Derek Thomas before he finally paid for the three walks in the inning with a two-run single to right.
O?Hare was then brought into the game with men on first and third with two outs. One pitch, one hit, one run, Nolan Gaige singled to cut the lead in half at 6-3. O?Hare then got Mike Rosenfeld to strike out looking to stop the bleeding.
In the home half of the sixth, the Red Sox looked to put this game out of reach after loading the bases with one out with a single and two hit batters by Whitecaps reliever Kasciem Graham. Travis singled to left to score one. The Sox couldn?t manufacture any more runs after an infield fly and line out to second base ending the inning with a 7-3 lead.
Y-D tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff standup double by Asuaje. Sciacca followed with a fly ball to right that was dropped by the right fielder; Asuaje hustled to third while Sciacca was thrown out at second with some aggressive base running. Pehl singled to right to drive in his third run and advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Chris Manning pinch ran for Pehl, got to third on a groundout by Travis. Jake Schrader doubled in Manning before Sean Dwyer grounded out to end the inning.
?It was good just coming back out here, it was a good day, felt good to get back on track,? Pehl said.
The Red Sox are at Falmouth to take on the Commodores Monday and return back to Red Wilson Field Tuesday to host the Bourne Braves.
