‘Dogs beat ‘Cats

New Hampshire struck for an unearned run in the top of the first. After Forrest Wall reached on an error, stole second base and went to third on a ground out, Santiago Espinal doubled him home to make it 1-0 NH.

Portland tied it with a solo home run from Jeremy Rivera in the third and took a 2-1 lead on a C.J. Chatham home run in the fourth.

The Fisher Cats scored an unearned run in the fifth to tie the game at two runs apiece. Kevin Smith doubled to left field then scored on a fielding error by the shortstop.

A six-run bottom of the fifth put the game out of reach. The Red Sox affiliate sent 10 men to the plate and scored their runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter.

The Fisher Cats used Smith’s second consecutive lead-off double to score a run on a groundout in the seventh and Chad Spanberger homered with two outs in the ninth, but that was the end of their offense.

NOTABLE

• Kevin Smith led the way with two hits, a walk and two runs scored.
• Chad Spanberger’s home run was his sixth of the year. It traveled 411 feet and left the bat at 107 MPH.
• Jake Fishman tossed two scoreless innings of relief and struck out three.

The series continues tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. RHP Jon Harris (1-1, 4.50 ERA) gets the nod for New Hampshire while RHP Tanner Houck (7-4, 4.02 ERA) will go for Portland. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with the Fisher Cats Pregame Show on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network.