Manchester, NH - Despite a late homer from Josh Palacios , the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) were out-pitched by the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers) 4-2 on Friday night at Delta Dental Stadium.Led by Matt Manning's career-high 10 strikeouts, Erie punched out 17 Fisher Cats batters. It matched a
Manchester, NH - Despite a late homer from Josh Palacios , the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) were out-pitched by the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers) 4-2 on Friday night at Delta Dental Stadium.
Led by Matt Manning's career-high 10 strikeouts, Erie punched out 17 Fisher Cats batters. It matched a season-high in Ks for New Hampshire. Manning (W, 10-4), the No. 9 overall pick in the 2016 draft, allowed one unearned run on four hits and no walks. The SeaWolves improved to 8-0 in his last eight starts.
Erie scored twice in the first inning against Yennsy Diaz (L, 8-8), who made his first start since making his MLB debut with the Blue Jays on Sunday. Derek Hill and Isaac Paredes led off the game with singles, and came in to score on an error and an RBI groundout.
Chace Numata extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning with a solo home run, and Kody Eaves made it 4-0 with an RBI triple in the fifth. Diaz finished after six quality innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
New Hampshire got on the board in the fifth inning, when Christian Williams reached on an error and scored on a Forrest Wall single three batters later. Josh Palacios made it a two-run game with a solo shot in the eighth inning, a towering 388-foot blast over the right field fence.
Chad Spanberger produced the Fisher Cats only two-hit game, finishing 2-for-4 with a pair of singles off Manning.
New Hampshire's bullpen shined, with two innings of one-hit relief from William Ouellette and a perfect ninth with a strikeout from Vinny Nittoli .
The series continues on Saturday night with another marquee pitching matchup in New Hampshire, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Nate Pearson , MLB.com's No. 2 ranked RHP prospect, will start for the Fisher Cats. Joey Wentz, the Tigers No. 10 prospect, will take the mound for Erie.
Saturday is Love Your Heart Night, presented by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Heart & Vascular Center, featuring "Summer of Love" Atlas Fireworks after the game. For tickets and information, visit NHFisherCats.com.
