MANCHESTER — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (27-31) took down the Richmond Flying Squirrels (26-32) by a 3-1 final score Tuesday night.
BOX SCORE
The victory marked Cesar Martin’s 200th as the manager of the Fisher Cats.
The first of six games Tuesday marked New Hampshire’s first home game since May 26, a 13-1 win over Somerset. The Fisher Cats returned home after a 12-game road trip against Akron and Erie.
Starter Michael Dominguez fought through adversity over his five innings of work. The right-hander walked five batters, but only allowed one hit and struck out four. His final strikeout stranded two Richmond runners on base in the fifth.
The Flying Squirrels went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
First baseman Rainer Nunez led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo blast off the batters’ eye in center field. After taking a first pitch breaking ball, Nuñez scorched a Carson Ragsdale (L, 2-3) fastball 108 miles-per-hour off the bat for his fifth homer of the year.
Right-handed reliever Trevor Clifton made his first appearance since May 25 out of the bullpen, and only needed six pitches for a scoreless top of the sixth. New Hampshire tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the frame. Shortstop Josh Kasevich scored on a wild pitch, then with runners on first and third, Nuñez took off for second and drew a throw, which allowed Alex De Jesus to steal home. After the sixth, the Cats led, 3-0.
New Hampshire reliever Andrew Bechtold gave up one run in the top of the seventh, but Justin Kelly and Ryan Boyer (S, 4) shut down the eighth and ninth innings to clinch the series-opening victory. It’s the second game this season the Fisher Cats have won with 3 runs or fewer.
The win is Martin’s 200th as the leader of the Fisher Cats; Martin has managed the Cats for four years. He is New Hampshire’s longest-tenured manager and needs five more wins to pass Bobby Meachem, who won 204 games from 2014-2016, as the winningest manager in the Fisher Cats 20-year history.
The series at Delta Dental Stadium continues Wednesday night with a 6:35 PM EDT first pitch. New Hampshire sends right-hander Devereaux Harrison (1-3, 5.01 ERA) to the mound against Richmond righty Nick Sinacola (0-1, 10.38 ERA).
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