New Hampshire 13-12-0Hartford 8-15-2WP- William Ouellette (1-0)LP- Ty Culbreth (3-8)T- 3:31 (:11)A- 6,246
New Hampshire 13-12-0
Hartford 8-15-2
WP- William Ouellette (1-0)
LP- Ty Culbreth (3-8)
T- 3:31 (:11)
A- 6,246
HARTFORD- Slugging four home runs, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats pounded the Hartford Yard Goats, 13-8, Thursday night, before 6,256 at Dunkin' Donuts Park, the 24th sellout of the season for the Yard Goats. Brock Lundquist and Christian Williams each had three-run homers for New Hampshire, while Vinny Capra and Nash Knight added solo shots in the first game for both clubs, following the Eastern League All-Star break. The Yard Goats outhit the Fisher Cats, 15-12. It was only Hartford's sixth loss in 20 games against New Hampshire this season. The game was interrupted for 11 minutes because of rain with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Trailing 10-0, the Yard Goats launched a comeback bid, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring five runs in the fifth inning. Seven of the first eight batters reached base for Hartford in the uprising, led by Manny Melendez, who delivered a two-run single. After pitcher William Ouellette relieved starter Hector Perez and struck out the first batter he faced, Tyler Nevin, Arvicent Perez and Bret Boswell followed with run-scoring singles, before the right-hander retired the next two hitters. The Yard Goats added another run in the sixth on a lead off single by Carlos Herrera, a double by Melendez and Scott Burcham's RBI-ground out.
New Hampshire erupted for five runs in the second inning, the big blow a three-run homer into the right-field upper deck by Brock Lundquist that chased starter Ty Culbreth. Vinny Capra then greeted southpaw reliever Matt Whitehouse with a home run down the left-field line. Williams' three-run homer in the ninth proved big, as the Yard Goats rallied for two runs in the ninth on an RBI-double by Mylz Jones and a run-scoring single by Vance Vizcaino.
Culbreth, a lefty, suffered the loss, allowing four runs on one hit in 1 1/3 innings. Ouellette picked up his first win, working one inning and allowing one run on three hits.
Melendez had a double, two singles and two RBI and Perez three hits and an RBI to lead Hartford. Riley Adams had three hits, and Lundquist, Williams and Capra each had a home run and two hits for the Fisher Cats.
Game two of the four-game series is Friday at 7:05 p.m. LHP Jack Wynkoop will pitch for Hartford against RHP Yennys Diaz for New Hampshire. The game will be broadcast on News Radio 1410 AM, on 100.9 FM, in Spanish on 1120 AM and on the Internet on newsradio1410.iheart.com and on MiLB.com. Friday night marks the beginning of Whalers Alumni Weekend, presented by UConn Health. Several former Whalers players and the former "Voice of the Hartford Whalers," Chuck Kaiton will be at Dunkin' Donuts Park throughout the weekend. A fireworks display follows Friday night's game.
