Talley, Orimoloye Homer But Fisher Cats Fall 10-5 to Yard Goats

MANCHESTER, NH -- Despite jumping out to an early lead, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) fell to the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) 10-5 in Sunday's series finale at Delta Dental Stadium.

In the loss, Samad Taylor went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, LJ Talley hit a homer and Demi Orimoloye went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

The Fisher Cats (38-42) quickly went ahead in the first inning against Hartford starter David Hill (4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 1 K). Taylor hit a leadoff triple, and, after a walk to Jordan Groshans, Vinny Capra drove home a run on an RBI groundout to put the Fisher Cats ahead 1-0. Then, Talley blasted a two-run homer to right-center to give New Hampshire a 3-0 edge.

In the second, Orimoloye drilled a leadoff solo homer to left-center to make it a 4-0 New Hampshire lead. After two outs, Taylor smacked a double, and with Capra batting, he stole third. Later in the at-bat, Capra lined an RBI single to left to up the Fisher Cats advantage to 5-0.

Hartford (27-56) finally got to Fisher Cats starter Reilly Hovis (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 K) in the third. Jameson Hannah was hit by a pitch with one out, and Coco Montes followed with a two-run homer to left to bring the Yard Goats within three at 5-2.

In the fifth, Montes once again connected on a two-run homer against Hovis to cut New Hampshire's lead down to 5-4.

Graham Spraker relieved Hovis to start the sixth, and after putting runners at the corners and two outs, he uncorked a wild pitch to allow a run to score to tie the game at five.

The Yard Goats jumped ahead for good in the eighth against Fisher Cats reliever Emerson Jimenez (L, 1-3). Casey Golden stroked a leadoff double, and then Matt McLaughlin laid down a sacrifice bunt. On the play, Jimenez made a wild throw, allowing McLaughlin to reach and Golden to score to put Hartford on top 6-5.

Matt Hearn followed with an RBI double to up the Yard Goats edge to 7-5. The final three runs came courtesy of an RBI double by Jose Gomez, a Montes RBI hit-by-pitch, and an Elehuris Montero sacrifice fly.

Nate Griep (W, 1-2) earned the victory for the Yard Goats by tossing a scoreless seventh.

In the loss, Fitz Stadler (1.0 IP, 0 H) and Connor Law (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R) posted scoreless appearances for New Hampshire.

Following the off day on Monday, the Fisher Cats begin a six-game road series against the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals) at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Fans can catch all of the action on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network.

New Hampshire will return home to Delta Dental Stadium for a six-game set against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets) from August 24-29 followed by a six-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) from August 31-September 5. For tickets, visit nhfishercats.com.