Andre Chiefs

Malden, MA- Brothers Matt and Mike DiCato handled the pitching and Juan Portes supplied a three run homer when the Chiefs beat the Lexington Blue Sox 6-4 at Maplewood Park on Wednesday night. With the win, the 15-6-1 Chiefs clinched a berth in the 2016 Intercity League Playoffs.

The Chiefs opened the scoring and took a 2-0 lead off Blue Sox starter Jimmy Hill in the bottom of the first. Mike Burgoyne and Portes both singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Hill then uncorked a wild pitch and Burgoyne slid home with the game's first run. Peter Copa followed and drove home Portes with a double to left-center.

Matt DiCato stranded Frank Frias after he reached in a lost in the twilight triple with one out in the top of the second, and the Chiefs padded thier lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the inning. Nate Witkowski led off with a single, moved to second and then third on wild pitches, and scored on Steve Gambale's sacrifice fly to right.

Lexington came up with a run on a Justin Silvestro single in the top of the third to make it 3-1 and then loaded the bases with nobody out. DiCato pulled off the escape when he got Alex Voitik on a comebacker, struck out Dorian Rojas, and then retired Frias on a grounder to keep the Chiefs in the lead.

Hill struck out the Chiefs' side in the bottom of the third and Mike DiCato replaced his brother and kept the Blue Sox off the scoreboard in the top of the fourth.

The Chiefs opened then opened the lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Tony Serino and Gambale both reached on infield singles before Portes sent a Hill pitch over the left-centerfield fence for a three run homer.

It stayed a 6-1 game until the Blue Sox made things interesting in the top of the seventh. Singles from Tom Russo, Julian Alvarez, and John Puttress, an infield error, and a double by Silvestro, cut the lead to 6-4. The Blue Sox had the tying runs on base before Mike DiCato struck out Ryan McCarthy, swinging on a full count fastball, to end the game.

Mike DiCato (4-1) picked up the win with four innings of relief. He gave up three runs (two earned), four hits, struck out two and walked two. Matt went three innings, allowed one earned run, four hits, and also struck out two.

The Chiefs are off until Monday when they will host the Wakefield Merchants at Maplewood in an 8:15 PM start.