Peña Dominates as SeaWolves Top Yard Goats

HARTFORD, CT - Carlos Peña dazzled across 5.2 scoreless innings to set the tone as the Erie SeaWolves (28-14, 64-46) notched a 3-1 win against the Hartford Yard Goats (16-26, 55-55) on Thursday night.

Peña allowed some traffic in the early innings but consistently worked his way through jams by posting seven strikeouts on the night and gave Erie some much-needed length after Tuesday's bullpen game to open the series. The left-hander tossed a season-high 91 pitches and earned his sixth win of the year.

On the other side, reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week Stu Flesland III continued to control opposing lineups, but his defense didn't back him up early. Roberto Campos reached on an error in the second inning to open the door and Seth Stephenson took advantage with an RBI double to open the scoring. Stephenson wasn't satisfied with the single run in the inning as the SeaWolves center fielder swiped third base and scored on a wild pitch to push the Erie lead to 2-0.

Flesland finished his night after five innings, allowing the two unearned runs and striking out seven. The SeaWolves took advantage quickly of Fisher Jameson in relief in the sixth. EJ Exposito laced a double to left field and Stephenson picked up his second RBI of the night with a two-out single to give the SeaWolves a three-run lead after six innings.

Hartford found some momentum against the SeaWolves bullpen in the seventh. After Yoniel Curet picked up two quick strikeouts, the Yard Goats strung together baserunners to get on the board with an RBI single from Jared Thomas and load the bases with a pair of walks. Despite falling behind in the count, Curet induced a soft lineout from Jimmy Obertop to strand the bases loaded.

Tyler Owens found himself in a similar situation in the eighth inning as Hartford roped back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and a sacrifice bunt put the tying run in scoring position. A walk to pinch-hitter Braylen Wimmer loaded the bases and increased the pressure on the right-handed reliever pitching for the second straight night for the first time this season. Owens met the moment with a strikeout and a groundout to escape the jam without any harm.

Zane Barnhart entered in the ninth aiming for his first SeaWolves save and punched out the first two he faced. Obertop worked a walk and Jack O'Dowd pulled a double inside the right-field line and Hartford again put the tying run in scoring position, but a lineout to center field brought the game to a close.

The SeaWolves are back in action on Friday night as right-hander Lucas Elissalt makes his Double-A debut after his promotion from High-A West Michigan earlier this week. Left-hander Bryson Hammer is set to start for Hartford with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM.

Single-game tickets, suites, picnics, The Club by Synchrony events, and Bud Light Party Deck groups are now available by visiting SeaWolves.com, calling 814-456-1300, or visiting the UPMC Park Box Office in person.