In a must-win game against a South Division rival on Monday night, the Bristol Blues prevailed with a huge 10-3 win over the Martha's Vineyard Sharks at Vineyard Baseball Park. The victory allowed the Blues to gain an extra game on the Sharks in the standings, as Bristol (11-6) now sits a game and a half ahead of Martha's Vineyard (8-6) and a half game ahead of Newport (10-6). 

Brendan Yegesh (Virginia Tech) had a strong start on the road for the Blues, going five innings with only one earned run and seven strikeouts. Despite walking four batters, Yegesh was able to get out of trouble to keep Bristol ahead in the game. Following his third start of the season, Yegesh has now struck out 18 batters in 14 innings of work, having allowed only nine hits. 

Benjamin Winslow made his Blues debut and was electric out of the bullpen. The Yale University product pitched three innings, allowing one run. Seven out of the nine outs that Winslow recorded were strikeouts. J.T. Landwehr (Portland) gave up a run in the ninth, but proceeded to strike out the side to close the game.

The Blues got the scoring started after a throwing error from the Sharks made it 1-0. A few batters later, Luke Nomura (Fairfield) had an RBI single to make it 2-0 Blues after the first inning. A passed ball in the bottom of the second, however, allowed Max Kaufer to score to cut the Blues' lead in half. 

In the top of the fourth, a Jamie Palmese (East Tennessee State) RBI single and a passed ball allowed Scott Gell (Stony Brook) to score, making it 4-1 Bristol. Another passed ball by the Sharks in the top of the sixth inning allowed another Blues' run to score, making it a 5-1 ball game. In the bottom half of the frame, Martha's Vineyard would get a run back with a Jackson Miller solo home run. 

The game would begin to stretch out of reach in the top of the seventh, as Bristol added four runs to their lead. Gianno Merlonghi (Central Connecticut) scored off a wild pitch, with Palmese working a bases-loaded walk to produce a run. Working a hitters count, Jack Hopko (Rhode Island) smoked a two-run single to give Bristol a commanding 9-2 lead. An RBI single by Nomura in the top of the eighth gave the Blues their tenth run of the night. 

Bristol picked up a second straight win, and the team has now won six of its last ten games. The Blues will get an off day on Tuesday before traveling back to Muzzy to host the Valley Blue Sox on Wednesday night. The first pitch is expected at 6:30 in Bristol, Connecticut. 

Written by Gavin Murray 

Photo Courtesy of the Bristol Blues Instagram Page (@bristol_blues)