Yard Goats Fall 7-6 in Homestand Finale

Yard Goats Fall 7-6 in Homestand Finale

WP- Yondrei Rojas (1-3)

LP- Cade Denton (3-4)

S- Caleb Freeman (4)

Hartford, CT- The Yard Goats fell to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7-6 in front of 6,872 fans on Sunday afternoon in Dunkin' Park. Somerset defeated Binghamton to pull within a half game of the Yard Goats with six games remaining in the first half. Aidan Longwell continued his hot streak with a solo home run, his second straight game going deep, while Roc Riggio added a towering solo blast to center field. Zack Kokoska contributed an RBI triple. Dyan Jorge sparked the offense by reaching base, stealing second, and scoring the game-tying run in the seventh inning. Hartford erased deficits twice and held leads in the middle innings, but New Hampshire plated the go-ahead run in the eighth. The Yard Goats begin a crucial six-game series in Reading Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

The game's opening run was scored in the first inning when New Hampshire's Jorge Burgos lined an RBI single off Hartford starter Connor Staine, bringing home Adrian Pinto to give the Fisher Cats a 1-0 lead. Staine settled in after the early run, pitching five innings while recording five strikeouts and retiring 15 batters.

Hartford answered quickly in the bottom of the first inning. First baseman Aidan Longwell launched a solo home run deep to right field, tying the game at 1-1. The blast marked Longwell's second consecutive game with a home run. Later in the inning, Zack Kokoska ripped an RBI triple to score Jimmy Obertop, and Dyan Jorge followed with an RBI single to left field that brought Kokoska home, giving the Yard Goats a 3-1 advantage.

The Fisher Cats battled back in the fourth inning when Nick Goodwin connected on a two-run home run, scoring Carter Cunningham and tying the game at 3-3. Hartford regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. New Hampshire reliever Mason Olson issued three consecutive walks to load the bases, and Obertop capitalized on a wild pitch, racing home to put the Yard Goats back in front 4-3.

Roc Riggio added to Hartford's lead in the fifth inning, crushing a tape-measure solo home run to deep center field to make it 5-3. New Hampshire responded in the sixth when Dub Gleed lifted a sacrifice fly off Yard Goats reliever Davis Palermo that scored Goodwin and cut the deficit to 5-4.

Griffin Herring took over on the mound for Hartford in the seventh inning, but the Fisher Cats grabbed their first lead since the opening frame when Cunningham blasted a two-run home run to make it 6-5 New Hampshire.

The Yard Goats answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Dyan Jorge drew a walk, stole second base, and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly before Andy Perez delivered an RBI infield single to third base, scoring Jorge and evening the score at 6-6.

New Hampshire scored the decisive run in the eighth inning when Victor Arias crossed the plate on a wild pitch from Hartford reliever Cade Denton, giving the Fisher Cats a 7-6 lead.

Hartford mounted one final threat in the bottom of the ninth inning. Bryant Betancourt ignited the crowd with a two-out double into right field, putting the tying run in scoring position. However, Fisher Cats reliever Caleb Freeman recorded the final out to secure the victory for New Hampshire.

The Yard Goats are off on Monday before traveling to Reading, Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate the Reading Phillies for a six-game series on Tuesday at 7pm. LHP Konnor Eaton will be on the bump first for the Yard Goats. The game will be broadcast on the free Audacy app.