Alex Blandino had two doubles and three RBI in the Red Sox? 12-1 victory over Wareham Saturday.
By: Andrew Constant / @andrew_constant
After a rare home loss Friday, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox bounced back in a big way, trouncing the visiting Wareham Gatemen 12-1 at Red Wilson Field. The Red Sox hit two home runs and had seven different players drive in at least one run as they racked up 17 hits in the game.
The Gatemen jumped on top early, earning a 1-0 advantage just four pitches into the ballgame, when Ty McFarland crushed a solo home run over the right field wall off Y-D starter Andrew Thurman. But Thurman, a sophomore from UC Irvine, rebounded, getting a ground out and a strikeout to escape further damage in the game?s opening frame.
His teammates had his back all night, and the offensive outburst began in the bottom of that first inning. Robert Pehl doubled with one out and scored on an RBI single to center by Alex Blandino. After a scoreless top of the second, the Red Sox jumped out to a lead they wouldn?t relinquish, pushing across the eventual winning run on a bases-loaded walk by Pehl.
Thurman settled down and allowed just two more base runners after the first inning, while striking out six in five dominant innings. In the fifth, Thurman yielded a single to Kyle Schwarber with one out, but Thurman struck out Ty Ross and catcher Wayne Taylor threw out Schwarber trying to steal second to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Red Sox blew the game open for good. Mason Katz drove a solo home run to center with one out for his first homer of the summer, and Zak Blair followed with a single. Blair stole second base and scored on a single later in the inning by Tyler Sciacca, which ended the night for Wareham starter Dan Tobik.
The Gatemen went to their bullpen and brought in Ryan Milewski to try and stop the bleeding, but he was unable to do so. Carlos Asuaje greeted Milewski with a ringing single to right-center, which moved Sciacca to third. That?s when Pehl stepped to the plate and left his biggest dent on the game, crushing a three-run home run to right-center, upping the Red Sox lead to 8-1 and effectively putting the contest out of reach. Pehl, a freshman from Washington, hit .293 with one homer and 23 RBI for the Huskies this season, but has already clubbed two dingers for Y-D this summer.
Just one game after seeing their bullpen implode, the Red Sox got solid outings from four different relievers. Chris O?Hare, Anthony Montefusco, Spenser Linney and Ben Lively all worked scoreless frames in relief, giving Wareham batters fits with different arm slots and pitch sequences.
The Red Sox got their final runs of the night in the seventh inning, pushing across four runs on five hits on both sides of a 20-minute rain delay. The teams were taken off the field by the umpires as the skies opened up and began dumping rain on Red Wilson Field. But, the storm proved to be short-lived and the players returned to finish the ballgame.
Taylor tripled home Blair before the rains came and pinch-hitter Matt McGovern doubled in Sciacca just minutes after the game resumed. Two batters later, Blandino capped the scoring by doubling home Asuaje and McGovern, stretching the lead to 12-1.
Y-D is back in action Sunday afternoon when they travel to Harwich for a 5:30 start. The Red Sox will be looking to win back-to-back road games for the first time this summer.
