RubberDucks Game RecapYard Goats 8 RubberDucks 7WP: Huascar Brazoban (1-0) LP: Dylan Baker (0-1) Save: James Farris (6) SummaryHartford's Josh Fuentes delivered a clutch, two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Yard Goats to a stunning, 8-7, comeback victory over the Akron RubberDucks Friday night at Dunkin' Donuts Park in
RubberDucks Game Recap
Yard Goats 8 RubberDucks 7
WP: Huascar Brazoban (1-0) LP: Dylan Baker (0-1) Save: James Farris (6)
Summary
Hartford's Josh Fuentes delivered a clutch, two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Yard Goats to a stunning, 8-7, comeback victory over the Akron RubberDucks Friday night at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Connecticut.
Turning Point
Trailing 7-6, the Yard Goats (17-22) rallied against Akron reliever Dylan Baker (0-1). Dillon Thomas led off the eighth inning with a single to left field. Fuentes followed with a long home run to left, handing the Goats the lead, 8-7. It was Fuentes' fourth homer of the year and third hit of the night.
Winging It
Julian Merryweather started for the RubberDucks, and fanned eight batters in 5.1 innings. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits. After being staked to a four-run lead, he allowed the Goats to tie it in the second inning when he surrendered an RBI double to Dom Nuñez and a three-run homer to Anthony Phillips to tie the game 4-4. Right-hander Huascar Brazoban (1-0) picked up his first Double-A win with a scoreless inning of relief for Hartford. Goats closer James Farris struck out the side in the ninth to post his sixth save.
Duck Tales
The RubberDucks (17-19) came out swinging in the first against Hartford's Konner Wade. After a single by Tyler Krieger, the Ducks cranked three consecutive home runs. Mike Papi clubbed a two-run shot, followed by solo blasts by Yu Chang and Eric Haase, to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Dorssys Paulino added a home run in the third inning, his fourth of the year to make it 5-4. Chang led off the fifth with his second homer of the game and his ninth of the year to give the Ducks a 6-5 lead. Chang is the first RubberDucks hitter with a multi-homer game this season.
Notebook
The RubberDucks had 12 hits, but stranded nine men on base…Four RubberDucks pitchers issued only one walk…The teams entered the game with identical .232 team batting averages…Akron's Todd Hankins stole second and third in the eighth inning…Time of Game: 2:52 …Attendance: 6,803.
On Deck
The RubberDucks and Yard Goats will meet again for the middle game of the series on Saturday night at 6:05. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1350 AM, the WARF iHeart channel, and the TuneIn Radio App.
