Yard Goats Win Regular Season Finale; Playoffs Next

Yard Goats Win Regular Season Finale; Playoffs Next

Bridgewater, NJ- Jimmy Obertop cracked a go-ahead two-run single in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and help the Yard Goats beat the Somerset Patriots 5-3 in the final game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Sam Weatherly, Cade Denton, and Davis Palermo held Somerset to just three runs in their season finale. Denton worked 4.1 innings and had five strikeouts to earn the win. Jared Thomas had three hits, including a single, double, and home run. The Yard Goats start the Eastern League Northeast Division Championship (best-of-three) against the Reading Fightin Phils in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night at 6:45 PM. The Yard Goats will host Game Two of the ELDS next Thursday, September 17th (6:30 PM) at Dunkin’ Park.

The Yard Goats scored the first run of the game in the third inning off Somerset relief pitcher Brady Kirtner. Kirtner relieved starter Michael Arias, who retired eight of nine batters faced, and walked Jared Thomas and Dyan Jorge, setting up an RBI single by Andy Perez to make it 1-0.

Somerset tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single by Roderick Arias off Hartford starter Sam Weatherly. Weatherly went 2.2 innings and allowed one run on four hits and had three strikeouts. Cade Denton came in and struck out DJ Gladney to end the inning.

The Yard Goats took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning on Jimmy Obertop’s two-run single off reliever Brady Kirtner. Zach Kokoska started the rally with a single and GJ Hill followed with a bunt single. Next, Obertop belted a hit into center field, scoring Kokoska and Hill to give Hartford a 3-1 lead.

Cade Denton retired the first five batters faced, including the side in order in the fourth inning, before yielding a run in the fifth. The Patriots made it a 3-2 game on Roderick Arias' infield grounder scoring Jace Avina, but Denton retired the final batter to end the inning. Denton struck out the side in the sixth inning and sat down eight of the final nine batters he faced through the seventh inning.

Hartford added a run in the seventh to make it 4-2 on Dyan Jorge’s RBI single, scoring Tevin Tucker who started the inning with a leadoff hit to left field.

Somerset closed the gap to one run by scoring in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Miguel Palma but Davis Palermo got Luis Durango to fly out to end the inning. Palermo pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts to earn the save.

The Yard Goats start the Eastern League Northeast Division Championship (best-of-three) against the Reading Fightin Phils in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night at 6:45 PM. The game will be broadcast on the free Audacy App, iHeartRadio app, Yard Goats website and streamed on MiLB.TV.