Bouchard Leads Yard Goats To Victory

*Hartford 5, New Hampshire 3 *

WP- PJ Poulin (1-1)

LP- Brody Rodning (3-4)

S-Reagan Todd (6)

T- 3:19

A-6,587

Hartford, CT- Yard Goats DH Sean Bouchard smashed two home runs, and drove in four runs leading Hartford to a 5-3 come from behind win against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Friday evening at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford. The slugger cranked a pair of solo home runs in the third and fifth innings, and then broke a 3-3 tie with a go-ahead two-out 2 RBI single in the eighth inning, giving the Yard Goats a 5-3 lead. The previous batter, Matt McLaughlin kept the rally alive and tied the game with a single, scoring Matt Hearn. Former UConn star PJ Poulin earned his first Double-A win as he fired a scoreless inning of relief and Reagan Todd hurled a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.

The Yard Goats scored the first run of the game in the third inning as Sean Bouchard cranked a solo home run off Fisher Cats reliever Nick Fraze. Bouchard belted a solo homer into the left field bullpen, giving the Yard Goats a 1-0 lead. Fisher Cats starter Elvis Luciano, who spent the entire 2019 season in the Major League’s with the Toronto Blue Jays, started for the Fisher Cats and pitched one inning in his first game since returning from the Injure List.

The Fisher Cats tied the game in the fourth inning at 1-1 on Chavez Young’s RBI double off Harford starter David Hill. Then, the Yard Goats took a 2-1 lead in the fifth, as Sean Bouchard cranked his second homer of the game, a blast to left center field. The Jays affiliate took its first lead on Chavez Young’s two-run homer in the sixth to make it 3-2 New Hampshire.

The Yard Goats rallied for three runs in the eighth inning off New Hampshire’s bullpen. Willie Abreu reached on an infield single and Matt Hearn entered as a pinch runner. Willie MacIver walked putting runners at first and second base. Matt McLaughlin followed with an RBI single to left field, scoring Hearn to tie the game at 3-3. Jose Gomez walked and after the second out was recorded Sean Bouchard drove a 2-2 pitch into center field, scoring MacIver and McLaughlin and gave the Yard Goats a 5-3 lead.

The Yard Goats continue the homestand against the Fisher Cats on Saturday night (6:05 PM). Tickets are available by visiting the website, yardgoatsbaseball.com. The game will be broadcast on AM 1410 WPOP and FM 100.9 FM and newsradio1410.iheart.com and the video stream available on MiLB.TV.