Braves Take Advantage of Eight Y-D Errors in 7-3 Win
The Bourne Braves entered Wednesday evening without a run in 18 innings at Doran Park this summer.
After 26 innings now, they still are yet to score an earned run at home. But they picked up their first home win of the season anyway, taking advantage of a whopping eight errors by the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in a 7-3 victory at Doran Park. All seven runs were unearned, scattered across five different innings.
“The errors obviously helped us. I always say, ‘Whoever wins the freebie war wins the game,'” Braves manager Scott Landers said. “We didn’t run up any errors, and we threw strikes.”
The Braves’ first two unearned runs came in the first inning. New leadoff hitter Gage Harrelson, from Texas Tech, reached on an error by the shortstop, and singles by Kodey Shojinaga and Derek Bender brought in the first run of the summer. Pitcher Matthew Fernandez induced a comebacker that looked like a tailor-made double play, but he threw it away and allowed a second run to score.
A hit by pitch loaded the bases as Fernandez continued to labor. But he induced another comebacker, and this time he made an accurate throw. He turned a 1-2-3 double play, holding Bourne to two runs in the opening frame.
The Braves had their own Matthew on the mound, with Marchal getting his second crack at starting this summer. He worked around a pair of two-out baserunners in the first inning, but let the Red Sox back in it with two runs on four hits in the second.
“It was tough to call pitches tonight. He battled, but he didn’t have his good stuff,” Landers said. “Honestly, we were calling fastballs in, and there were fastballs away. He couldn’t locate what he wanted to do. He knew what his ball was doing, and we just made adjustments on the run. And he did a good job with that.”
The Braves went back to work in the third, once again using Y-D errors to their advantage. Garrett Michel reached on a line drive off the first baseman’s glove, and Jackson Castillo drove him home with a single. Another run came in on a Cameron Foster sacrifice fly, which would have been the third out if not for the error. The Braves pulled back ahead, 4-2.
Marchal settled in for the remainder of his outing, keeping the Red Sox off the board in the third and fourth. He had a similar outing as his previous start, with one bad inning and three very good ones. It brought an end to his brief stint in the Cape Cod League.
“I tip my cap for him — just battled, battled, battled every inning he was out there,” Landers said. “He’s gonna be off. He’s leaving tomorrow. I wish him the best.”
The Braves’ offense struck again in the fourth with yet another unearned run. Bryce Eblin, a returner from last year’s champions, collected his first hit of the summer, and fellow newcomer Gage Harrelson followed with a single of his own. Eblin reached third on a bobble by the right fielder, and scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
Bender and Foster singled in the fifth. As if the night couldn’t get any wackier, an errant pickoff throw allowed yet another run to score. An additional run scored in the eighth, as Iowa’s Sam Petersen reached on a dropped catch by the right fielder in his first at-bat as a Brave, and scored on Eblin’s second hit of the game.
A total of eight Y-D errors gave Bourne seven unearned runs on the night. The Cape League record for errors in a game is nine. What made this game all the more statistically unique was the fact that the runs (and errors) were spread across five different innings, and there still wasn’t a single earned run on Bourne’s side. In every inning that Y-D made at least one error, it led to at least one run.
Lefty Dalton Pence, who just joined the team, held the Braves’ lead with three strong innings of relief. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk.
“We needed a left-hander,” Landers said. “We just activated him. He just got here. So instead of throwing a ‘pen with him, I’m like, ‘Okay, they have seven lefties in the lineup. We need to get a lefty in there.’ He did a good job for the first time out, and him and I trying to figure each other out, but he threw strikes and got ahead of hitters.”
Right-hander Joe Vogatsky gave up a run in the eighth, but stranded runners on the corners to keep the Red Sox from staging a comeback. He recorded the final three outs in a stress-free ninth, completing the defending champions’ first win at Doran Park in 2023.
The Braves improve to 3-6-1, with a +4 run differential on the season. They’ll play the third contest of this five-game homestand Thursday at 6 p.m. against Falmouth, who they tied on the road earlier this summer.
