Braves Fall on Short Side of 5-3 Contest Against Orleans

By Mojo Hill

One step forward, and another step back.

Or at least, that’s what it’s felt like for the Bourne Braves this week.

After a 14-run outburst in Cotuit on Monday, the Braves seemed to be finding their mojo at the plate. But they went back to their old ways with a close, competitive 5-3 loss to Orleans at Doran Park on Wednesday, dropping their record to 16-15-1. Bourne’s performance was rough around the edges, with wild pitches, a passed ball and an error contributing to the Firebirds’ run total.

“Overall, I thought we hung in there,” Braves manager Scott Landers said. “We just beat ourselves, plain and simple. But we lost a baseball game.”

Bryce Cunningham, who was recently named an All-Star, worked swiftly through the first two innings. He gave up a couple soft singles, but got out of it with a 4-6-3 double play. He worked in his breaking stuff more in the second inning and fired a 1-2-3 frame.

“I didn’t think Bryce had his good fastball tonight,” Landers said. “But the slider was good, and he kept us in there.”

The Firebirds greeted Cunningham with a single and a fluky double to start the third inning, putting two in scoring position. The double was a popup that wasn’t hit much more than 60 mph. Cunningham nearly got out of it, inducing two lineouts that were ironically squared up much better than the double. But the game’s first run came home on a passed ball, giving Orleans a 1-0 lead.

The Braves quickly fought back. After Cam Foster smacked a well-struck double to left-center, Bryce Eblin came up clutch with a two-out RBI single. Eblin has been on a tear as of late, showing a particular knack for clutch hits. It’s fitting timing for Eblin, too, after his recent All-Star selection.

Derek Bender added another clutch two-out knock, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead.

“Just keep going,” Foster said. “It’s different every game. Like tonight, we kind of gave them some runs. We can live with that. We know we’re not gonna do that every night. We’re just gonna keep getting better, keeping going after it.”

Cunningham worked through a scoreless fourth and fifth, giving Bourne five really solid innings. The only run he allowed was unearned. He struck out just two, but he didn’t walk anyone. It was his second straight start not issuing any walks.

“It’s the sign of a really dominant pitcher when you don’t have your best stuff and you can keep us in the game,” Landers said.

But the Firebirds clawed back against reliever Matthew Taubensee. A bunt hit and a line-drive single immediately put two on in the sixth, and an infield single — combined with a throwing error by Jonathan Vastine — tied the game. Orleans took the lead on a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, Bender hit a groundout to third base that caused a moment of confusion. The Firebirds’ catcher yelled “Foul!”, despite the umpires ruling it fair. Landers came out to argue, but his efforts were unrewarded.

“The catcher was calling it foul, and there was defensive obstruction,” Landers said. “But I guess they didn’t see it that way.”

The Braves responded with their third clutch hit of the game to stay in it. Kendall Diggs led off the seventh with a double, and Foster lined his second double of the game to knot it up at three apiece.

“I haven’t felt great in the box all the time since I’ve been up here,” Foster said. “But today I wanted to know when I’m gonna feel great, and it paid off for me because I did.”

Still, once again, Orleans retook the lead. Two singles and two wild pitches against Taubensee made it 4-3 Firebirds. They rallied for an additional run in the eighth against Ryan Free, and the Braves went down in order to finish off another tight loss. Foster hit the ball hard for the fourth time in as many at-bats, but the ball found a mitt.

“I didn’t think our at-bats were great early. And then we started getting going a little bit,” Landers said. “But that happens in baseball. It’s a new day. It’s new arms that we face, and we just have to take it day by day by day, and keep the same approaches as we do the day before if they’re good. We didn’t have it late tonight, but it happens.”

The Braves will look to keep their record above .500 with another home game on Thursday, this time against the Brewster Whitecaps at 6 p.m.