Patriots 5, Fisher Cats 1

BRIDGEWATER, NJ – Shortstop Eric Snow swatted his first Double-A homer to cap a three-hit game, but the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (17-26, 51-58) dropped their Thursday night battle at TD Bank Ballpark against the Somerset Patriots (21-21, 57-54), 5-1.

Yankees rehabber Carlos Rodón dealt 4-1/3 scoreless innings and held New Hampshire quiet with one walk and seven strikeouts in what was the Fisher Cats’ fastest nine-inning game of the season at one hour and 58 minutes.

Box Score

New Hampshire starter Austin Cates (L, 1-5) allowed five runs on five hits and struck out six across five frames. Relievers Aaron Munson, Kelena Sauer and Yondrei Rojas fired three scoreless innings and retired the final eight batters of the game. Cates began the second with a pair of walks and a single before Somerset recorded their second grand slam in as many games. After the second, Cates limited somerset to one run on three hits, no walks and four strikeouts.

In the second start of his rehab assignment, the Yankees’ lefty Rodón twirled 4-1/3 innings of shutout baseball and racked up seven punchouts. Reliever Tyler Boudreau (W, 1-0) followed with 3-2/3 innings of shutout baseball and added six strikeouts in his Double-A debut.

Top Takeaways:

• INF Eric Snow launched his first Double-A homer in the ninth inning to finish his eighth three-hit game of the season, his first with New Hampshire.
• OF Alexis Hernandez has notched a hit in four of his six Double-A contests.
• RHP Aaron Munson has not allowed a run in eight of his last nine outings.
• Thursday’s matchup was New Hampshire’s quickest nine-inning outing of the season (1 hour, 58 minutes).

Somerset struck first in the bottom of the second. Following back-to-back walks, second baseman Connor McGinnis singled. With the bases loaded, first baseman Josh Moylan (7) slugged a grand slam and made it 4-0.

The Patriots added a run in the bottom of the fifth. Following a leadoff double from catcher Manny Palencia, shortstop Core Jackson ripped an RBI single and extended the lead to 5-0.

In the ninth, Snow (1) mashed a solo home run, but the Cats fell on Thursday, 5-1.

New Hampshire and Somerset continue their six-game series on Friday with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. RHP Danny Thompson Jr. (1-1, 2.32 ERA) will start for the Fisher Cats, while the Patriots will counter with righty Don Hamel (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on WKXL and the Fisher Cats Radio Network.