Yard Goats 10, Fisher Cats 5
- Updated: August 9, 2021
MANCHESTER — Despite jumping out to an early lead, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) fell to the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) 10-5 in Sunday’s series finale at Delta Dental Stadium.
In the loss, Samad Taylor went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, LJ Talley hit a homer and Demi Orimoloye went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Fisher Cats (38-42) went ahead in the first inning against Hartford starter David Hill (4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 1 K). Taylor hit a leadoff triple, and, after a walk to Jordan Groshans, Vinny Capra drove home a run on an RBI groundout to put the Fisher Cats ahead 1-0. Then, Talley blasted a two-run homer to right-center to give New Hampshire a 3-0 edge.
In the second, Orimoloye drilled a leadoff solo homer to left-center to give New Hampshire a 4-0 lead. After two outs, Taylor smacked a double, and with Capra batting, he stole third. Later in the at-bat, Capra lined an RBI single to left to up the Fisher Cats advantage to 5-0.
Hartford (27-56) got to Fisher Cats starter Reilly Hovis (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 K) in the third. Jameson Hannah was hit by a pitch with one out, and Coco Montes followed with a two-run homer to left to bring the Yard Goats within three at 5-2.
In the fifth, Montes once again connected on a two-run homer against Hovis to cut New Hampshire’s lead to 5-4.
Graham Spraker relieved Hovis to start the sixth, and after putting runners at the corners and two outs, he uncorked a wild pitch to allow a run to score to tie the game at five.
The Yard Goats jumped ahead for good in the eighth against Fisher Cats reliever Emerson Jimenez (L, 1-3). Casey Golden stroked a leadoff double, and then Matt McLaughlin laid down a sacrifice bunt. On the play, Jimenez made a wild throw, allowing McLaughlin to reach and Golden to score to put Hartford on top 6-5.
Matt Hearn followed with an RBI double to up the Yard Goats edge to 7-5. The final three runs came courtesy of an RBI double by Jose Gomez, a Montes RBI hit-by-pitch, and an Elehuris Montero sacrifice fly.
Nate Griep (W, 1-2) earned the victory for the Yard Goats by tossing a scoreless seventh.
Fitz Stadler (1.0 IP, 0 H) and Connor Law (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R) posted scoreless appearances for New Hampshire.
*******
Those who would like to help New Hampshire Hardball promote baseball in the Granite State can do so by purchasing a New Hampshire Hardball membership or by making a donation below. Sponsorship inquiries can be sent to nhhardball@gmail.com. Your support is greatly appreciated.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login