Kay and Pen Lead Ponies to Saturday Night Shutout
Hartford, CT - Anthony Kay pitched five and a third scoreless frames, allowing just three hits, two walks, and striking out nine in the Ponies 1-0 win over the Yard Goats on Saturday night at Dunkin' Donuts Park. Kay (7-3) earns his seventh win of the year pulling him into a tie with the Yard Goats Rico Garcia for the most wins in the Eastern League.
The Ponies scored the lone run of the game in the fourth inning on two Hartford errors. With Barrett Barnes on second and two out, he advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw by Yard Goats left-handed starter Ty Culbreth. Then with Barnes on third, Mike Paez hit a ground ball that third basemen Colton Welker couldn't handle, and Barnes scored on the error.
Adonis Uceta, Ryley Gilliam, and Matt Blackham combined to preserve the shutout, with Blackham earning his fifth save of the year. Kay threw 94 pitches and 62 strikes in his first start in the state of Connecticut since starring for UCONN, lowering his ERA to 1.49. Culbreth allowed only two hits and 1 unearned run in the start but took the loss to fall to 3-6.
The Ponies bullpen threw four and two thirds innings of perfect relief, with Uceta going an inning and two thirds, with Gilliam pitching the eighth, and Blackham the ninth.
The two teams will play the rubber game of the series Sunday afternoon at Dunkin' Donuts Park as the Rumble Ponies wrap up their six-game road trip. First pitch is at 1:05PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF and on the Binghamton Rumble Ponies channel on TuneIn. The Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame show begins at 12:50.
POSTGAME NOTES: Paez finished 2-4…David Thompson has gotten a hit in all seven games he's played thus far in a Ponies uniform.