HOLYOKE, MA–The Blue Sox will host Fan Appreciation Night tonight, with half price tickets, giveaways, an appearance by Pat the Patriot, and post-game fireworks as part of the final home matchup, a doubleheader with the Sanford Mainers.
KEY LINKS: Tickets | Blue Sox Roster | Mainers Roster | Scoreboard | Standings | Watch/Listen LIVE
LAST TIME THEY MET: For the fourth time this season, the Blue Sox and Mainers were involved in a shutout. This time, it was Valley coming out on top, breaking a 1-0 game open in the 9th for a 4-0 victory over their North Division foe on July 26.
The Blue Sox finally got to Christian Lavoie in the fourth frame after he threw 12 scoreless innings in his first two appearances against Valley when Frank Crinella doubled to lead off the inning and Nick Lynch singled to bring him in.
That turned out to be all the support the pitching staff needed, as Daniel Starwalt threw five innings of two-hit shutout ball with four strikeouts, Adam Merritt added 2/3 of an inning without a hit and Sam Elias earned the save with 3.1 frames of near perfect pitching, allowing just one hit and fanning five with no walks.
In the ninth, the Blue Sox put it out of reach, as Lynch singled, pinch runner Kevin Barker stole second, and came in when Jeremie Fagnan hit a double to make it 2-0. The next batter, Dylan Delso, smashed a 1-2 offering over the wall for his first home run of the year to make it 4-0.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Blue Sox are 9-11 all-time against Sanford, with a 1-3 mark this season; they dropped their lone home game so far in the series 7-0.
PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Sox veterans Henry Van Zant and Adam Rutz are the respective starters for games one and two tonight. Van Zant has allowed just three earned runs in his last 20 innings of work since re-joining the team in late June, and overall has a 1-1 record with a 3.85 ERA, including 28 strikeouts, 10 walks, and 28 hits allowed in 23.1 innings. Rutz is making his first start of the season for the team; he last threw a perfect frame against the Keene Swamp Bats.
LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Sox took a tough loss at home against the SteepleCats last night, falling 3-1.
The Blue Sox got off to a fast start, as Frank Crinella doubled and Nick Lynch drove him in with a single in the first frame.
That was it for Valley’s offense; in the fourth, North Adams took the lead on two walks, a single, and a pair of RBI groundouts.
In the eighth, they added an insurance run on two more singles and another RBI groundout for the 3-1 final.
WHO’S HOT: Nick Lynch is 7-for-13 in his last four games, with multiple hits in each of the last two, including a double and at least one RBI in both, as well as three stolen bases in those contests. Sanford’s Caden Bailey has a ten game hitting streak active, going 12-for-33 in that time to raise his average 57 points, from .195 to .252.
GAME-TIME WEATHER FORECAST: Cloudy, 76 degrees, winds south at 8 MPH, 70% humidity, 40% chance of rain.
NEXT UP: The Blue Sox close out the season tomorrow at the North Adams SteepleCats.