New Hampshire 3-13-1Hartford 4-10-1WP- Jordan Foley (2-4)LP- Jonathan Cheshire (1-1)S- Ben Bowden (13)T- 2:33A- 5,876
New Hampshire 3-13-1
Hartford 4-10-1
WP- Jordan Foley (2-4)
LP- Jonathan Cheshire (1-1)
S- Ben Bowden (13)
T- 2:33
A- 5,876
HARTFORD- Vince Fernandez slugged two home runs and Ben Bowden nailed down his league-leading 13th save, as the Hartford Yard Goats won their third straight, 4-3, Thursday night, before 5,876 at Dunkin' Donuts Part. Hartford (22-18) moved a season-high four games over .500 and pulled to within two games of first place Trenton.
Bowden, a left-hander from Lynn, MA, pitched his second-straight 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the win for Jordan Foley, who hurled two scoreless innings.
The Yard Goats snapped the tie with an unearned run in the eighth inning. After Colton Welker reached on an error, a single by Fernandez and Alan Trejo's RBI-single set the stage for Hartford's ninth win in 12 games against New Hampshire (18-20), the defending EL champions.
Fernandez had three hits and three RBI to pace Hartford's 10-hit attack. Vizcaino and Trejo each had two hits. Kevin Smith and Christian Williams each had three hits for the Fisher Cats.
Hartford took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run home run by Fernandez into the upper deck in right-center. New Hampshire tied the game in the third on a walk to former Yard Goat Forrest Wall, an RBI-double by Smith and a run-scoring single by Chad Spanberger. The Fisher Cats took the lead in the sixth on consecutive singles by Brock Lundquist, Riley Adams and Williams and a sacrifice fly by Nash Knight. The Yard Goats promptly tied it in their half of the sixth on Fernandez' second homer of the game and his 10th of the season, an opposite field, towering shot into the left field seats.
Despite a season-high four walks, Yard Goats starter Ty Culbreth turned in his second quality start. He yielded three runs on nine hits over six innings and struck out one. New Hampshire starter Hector Perez also turned in his second quality start - both against Hartford - allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Game two of the four-game series is Friday at 7:05 PM. RHP Rico Garcia will pitch for the Yard Goats, while LHP Zach Logue pitches for New Hampshire. The game will be broadcast on News Radio 1410AM, on 100.9 FM, in Spanish on 1120AM and on the Internet on newsradio1410.iheart.com and on MiLB.com.
