(QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC) – The Rockland Boulders embarked on their first true road trip of the season with the league’s top record and a three game win streak in hand. Both of those ended on Friday night as the Quebec Capitales defeated Rockland 10-1 at Stade Municpal, leapfrogging to the top of the standings.
Bo Budkevics (1-1) struggled from the start, allowing four of his seven runs in the first inning. A sacrifice fly from Kalian Sams opened the scoring for Quebec (6-2), before RBI hits from Yurisbel Gracial and Lachlan Fontaine turned it into a 4-0 game after the first.
Adam Elrich added a solo homerun in the fourth inning for Les Capitales before the Boulders finally got on the board. An RBI single from Jared McDonald in the fifth cut the deficit to four while also extending his regular season on-base streak to 71 consecutive games. That would be the only offense that Quebec starter Mac Aker would allow in his seven innings of work. Rockland (5-3) would load the bases in the top of the seventh but a strikeout of Ray Frias and a McDonald ground ball, double play ended the threat.
Quebec added a pair of runs in the sixth, chasing Budkevics after five and two-thirds frames, before adding another run in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Both Gracial and Fontaine finished the game with a pair of RBI while all but one starter recorded a hit. Aker (1-0) also recorded four strikeouts to earn his first win of the season.
The Boulders will attempt to bounce back on Saturday when the two teams resume their three game set at 6:00 pm at Stade Municipal.