I don’t think anyone predicted this.
After scoring 49 runs on 62 hits in their first four playoff games, the Y-D Red Sox had to be labeled as the favorites heading into the Cape League championship series. They were hot — really hot — and there was no reason to think they’d cool down.
Then Matt Andriese took the mound.
The Cotuit righty from UC Riverside was pretty good during the regular season, posting a 3.52 ERA while pitching as a starter and a reliever. The last time he started was August 4, when he went three innings against Brewster. He pitched one inning of relief in the playoff series against Wareham.
On Wednesday, he was the one who got the ball for game one.
He did amazing things with it.
Considering what Y-D had done in the playoffs, I have no qualms calling Andriese’s performance the best of the entire summer. He tossed a complete-game three-hit shutout, striking out four and walking one. The Red Sox, who had been hitting up and down their lineup, got two hits from Joe Panik, one from Ben McMahan and absolutely nothing else. Andriese took a no-hitter into the fifth.
Cotuit manager Mike Roberts told the Cape Cod Times that Andriese was “about as focused as I’ve seen a young man on the mound in a while.”
And the focus never faded. Andriese’s longest start before Wednesday was seven innings. He trotted back out for the eighth on Wednesday and worked around a walk and a hit-batsman for another scoreless frame. In the ninth, Panik led off with a single, but Andriese got the red-hot Jordan Ribera to ground into a double play. He then induced a ground-out to end the game.
All in all, an incredible performance. If Cotuit goes on to win the series, Andriese has to be the playoff MVP. It was one game, yes, but it was an enormous game.
Though I would never count Y-D out, the Kettleers are in the driver’s seat now. They’re playing at home today and are expected to send Austin Wood to the mound. I can’t think of a guy you’d want more. Wood struck out 10 in his other playoff start and he hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any start this season.
With one more great pitching performance, the Kettleers will have a good chance to win their first Cape League championship since 1999.