Melrose – An afternoon rainstorm prompted a change in venue, but even that could not derail the Lexington Blue Sox as they defeated Middlesex 3-1 in a game played at Pine Banks Park and knot the finals series at 1-1. The heavy rainfall made Morelli Field unplayable, so the teams arranged to play game two on the turf field at Pine Banks. Game three will return to Morelli Wednesday night with a 7:45 first pitch. Lexington struck quickly in the first inning. With one out Josue Feliciano lined a single to left. After an errant pickoff throw by Middlesex pitcher David Kerns, Feliciano moved to second. Julian Alvarez walked to put Sox on first and second. Cam Meyer singled to left and Feliciano rounded third and came home with the Sox first run. For the fifth straight playoff game a Blue Sox opponent scored in the first inning. The Expos Kebler Peralta singled with one out to start the rally. After the second out cleanup hitter Dionys Quezada singled into right and Peralta went to third. A wayward throw back to first from right fielder Alvarez allowed Peralta to come home with the tying run. Neither team could put up another run in the second and third innings, but in the fourth inning the Blue Sox broke open the tie game. Matt Chatelle hit his second home run of the postseason as he blasted a slider over the left field fence to give Lexington a 2-1 lead. After the second out Morgan Brown bounced a ground ball up the middle and reached on a single. Ernie Little was hit by pitch putting Blue Sox on first and second. Dom Zaher followed with a single and Brown raced home to give the Blue Sox a 3-1 lead. Robbie Cobb made his second start of the playoffs, for the Blue Sox. He improved to 2—0 pitching five strong innings. Cobb scattered five hits, allowed an unearned run, walked three and struck out two. Setup man Borja Jones-Berasaluce pitched a scoreless sixth for Lexington. He struck out 2 of the four batters he faced. Manny Delcarmen came in the seventh to close out the game. He struck out the first two batters he faced and retired leadoff hitter Idelson Taveras on a comebacker to save the game. David Kerns started for Middlesex and went the distance. In his 7 innings of work, he scattered 5 hits, gave up 3 earned runs, walked one and struck out four. Kerns retired six straight Blue Sox batters from the fifth through seventh. Peralta and Quezada each had two of the Expos five hits. Meyer was 3-for-3 for the Sox with a run and stole a base. Chatelle was 2-for-3 with a home run, run, RBI. The game was played in an efficient one hour and 46 minutes. From the Stat Sheet – This was the fifth time Lexington has played a playoff game at Pine Banks. The previous four were against Andre and the Sox had split those games. This was the third finals game Lexington has played at Pine Banks and it first win. The Blue Sox are now 3-2 at Pine Banks in postseason games. Matt Chatelle is the fifth Blue Sox player to hit two homeruns in the postseason since 2006. Middlesex is now 2-2 in game two of a playoff series and 0-2 in game two of the finals. Written by Bruce Hack, Lexington Director of Media Relations – 30 –

Melrose – The Middlesex Expos took a 1-0 lead in the Intercity League Finals with a 7-0 win over defending champion Lexington. In a rematch of last year’s finals in which the Expos were swept by the Blue Sox, the same will not this season. The Expos scored all they would need in the first inning when they scored four quick runs and Lexington was down 4-0 before it came to bat. The first five Expos batters reached base by hit or walk with Leon Paulino singling to center for two RBI for a 3-0 lead. The final run scored on a double play for the first two outs of the inning. Roland Mendez was making his first postseason start for Middlesex and made the decision look good. He pitched five shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He struck out six straight Sox batters from the third through fifth innings. From the last out in the second inning through the second out in the fifth Mendez struck out eight of ten Sox hitters. Mendez walked one, and scattered six hits, stranding five Sox baserunners. He left Sox runners on second and third in the first. A runner on third in the second and third innings and in the fifth a runner on second. Of the nine baserunners left on by Lexington, six of them were in scoring position. Jose Paulino (second inning) and Mike Golankiewicz (fifth inning) each hit solo home runs for Middlesex stretching the lead to 6-0 nothing. Lexington had its chances but could not come up with a big hit when it was needed. After two outs in the first Julian Alvarez single and Andrew Selima followed with a double that one-hopped off the fence putting runners at second and third., but they were left there. In the second the Sox had runners at the corners with one out when Matt Chatelle (single) was picked off first on a strong throw by catcher Dionys Quezada. The Blue Sox were only retired in order one time in the fourth inning, all on strikeouts. Game two is Tuesday night at Morelli with first pitch set for 7:45 pm. From the Stat Sheet – This is the Expos second year in the league. They have finished in second place both seasons and have reached the finals in both seasons. These finals are the fourth playoff series for Middlesex. In each of the first three series, two semifinals and one final’s, the Expos lost the first game of the series, in both semifinals they came back and won. In the 2021 finals they were swept by Lexington. Middlesex is now 5-5 in the playoffs. The 7-0 loss was the eighth postseason shutout inflicted on the Sox. It was the first shutout loss for the Sox since August 26, 2014 vs. Andre in the finals in the first year the finals were held at Morelli. The Sox had gone 44 straight playoff games without being shutout. The 7-0 loss was the biggest playoff loss the Sox have suffered since 2006. The previous mark was 6-0 accomplished twice by the Andre Chiefs in 2014 and 2009. Written by Bruce Hack, Lexington Media Relations Director Historical and Statistical research provided by Sportstats. – 30 –