New Hampshire Hardball

Fisher Cats come up a run short

AKRON, Ohio – Santiago Espinal and Riley Adams hit home runs, but the Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) could not finish off a sweep of Akron (Cleveland), falling 6-5 on Thursday afternoon at Canal Park.

BOX SCORE

The Fisher Cats (17-25/48-61) put up a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, which started with a double by Forrest Wall. He moved to third on a groundout and scored when Riley Adams reached on an error. Nash Knight followed with a double to left field and Adams scored.

Nolan Jones homered in the bottom of the first inning for the RubberDucks to make it 2-1. Akron (15-26/49-61) moved in front in the second on a sacrifice fly by Alexis Pantoja with the bases loaded, and a single by Ernie Clement.

The Fisher Cats took a short-lived lead in the top of the third inning. Espinal homered to start the inning and Adams, who had singled, scored when Kevin Smith reached on a fielders choice. Akron made it 4-4 in the bottom of the third inning. Mitch Longo singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Nellie Rodriguez.

A home run by Riley Adams in the top of the fifth inning gave the Fisher Cats the lead for the third time in the game at 5-4. Again, the RubberDucks moved back in front in the bottom of the inning on a single by Andruw Monasterio and a fielders choice grounder by Pantoja.

Jake Paulson (W, 9-7) allowed five runs (three earned) to pick up the win. The RubberDucks received scoreless relief in this one from Kyle Dowdy and Dalbert Siri.

William Ouellette (L, 1-2) was tagged with loss after coming on for starter Hector Perez. New Hampshire relievers Vinny Nittoli and Jake Fishman combined to keep Akron off the board for the final 3.2 innings.

With back-to-back series wins, the Fisher Cats head to Erie to open a series with the Western Division-leading SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers) on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The next home game for the Fisher Cats will be on Tuesday, August 6 when they host the Akron RubberDucks at 7:05 p.m.

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