Smith Shoves and Palencia Pummels in Somerset's Fifth Straight Win
The Somerset Patriots beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5-1 at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ on Saturday evening. The win inched Somerset to 2.0 games back of first-place Reading in the Northeast Division with 25 games remaining and two games over .500 (23-21) for the first time in
The Somerset Patriots beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5-1 at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ on Saturday evening.
The win inched Somerset to 2.0 games back of first-place Reading in the Northeast Division with 25 games remaining and two games over .500 (23-21) for the first time in the second half.
Somerset earned its fifth win over New Hampshire this week and 10th consecutive over the Fisher Cats dating back to June.
The Patriots advanced to 15-8 against the Fisher Cats this season, including an 8-3 record at TD Bank Ballpark. Dating back to 2025, Somerset is 37-10 against New Hampshire.
Somerset’s five-game win streak is the longest active streak in the Eastern League and is one win shy of tying the team's season-long six-game win streak from July 23 - July 29.
After Manny Palencia’s two-run home run in the sixth inning, Somerset has homered in eight of its last nine games. The Patriots’ 162 homers this season lead Double-A and rank seventh in MiLB at the time of the game’s conclusion.
Somerset tallied a season-high tying five stolen bases for the fifth time this year and first time since July 30 vs. Richmond. Since August 7 at Akron, the Patriots have stolen a base in seven of their last eight games.
Cade Smith (@Yankees No. 21 Prospect) ties a career-high 7.0 innings in his FIFTH quality start of the year! 👏
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 16, 2026
7.0 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 1 BB | 6 K pic.twitter.com/apUSeYkNbj
RHP Cade Smith (7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K) tied a career-high 7.0 IP in his fifth quality start of the season. Smith retired the final 11 batters he faced, including a perfect three-strikeout seventh inning. Smith’s five quality starts lead all Patriots and are tied for third in the Eastern League this season. The quality start was his first since June 30 vs. Hartford.
Combining for 2.0 scoreless innings in relief of Cade Smith, Somerset’s bullpen has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of its last 10 games, pitching to a 2.68 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in that span with 53 K to 14 BB in 40.1 IP.
LHP Geoff Gilbert (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) worked his second consecutive scoreless outing with three punchouts. In his last five appearances, Gilbert has posted a 1.04 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and .107 BAA with 14 K to 3 BB in 8.2 IP.
SS Core Jackson (2-for-3, 2 BB, RBI, 2 SB, 2 R) reached base safely four times. Jackson registered his second multi-hit game at Double-A and his 20th across all levels this season. Jackson racked up a Double-A career-high two stolen bases, pushing his season-long total to 36 SB. His 36 stolen bases are tied for fourth-most in the Yankees minor league system.
Jackson has an RBI in four of his five games at Double-A, improving to 5-for-17 with 5 RBI and 4 SB with the Patriots. Dating back to his time with Hudson Valley, Jackson has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games. In that span, he’s slashing .333/.468/.528 with 4 XBH, 5 RBI and four multi-hit games.
Roderick Arias RIPS a 100 MPH MISSILE to split the gap and score Core Jackson from first! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8L1rYzYcvR
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 15, 2026
2B Roderick Arias (1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB) scorched an RBI double in the first inning to score Core Jackson from first base. In 11 games with Somerset, Arias has registered 12 hits and is slashing .286/.362/.476 with a HR, 5 XBH and 8 RBI. Arias has reached safely in 10 of 11 games to start his stint with Somerset. Dating back to his time in Hudson Valley, Arias has reached safely in 14 of his last 15 games. In that span, he’s slashing .333/.397/.526 with 8 XBH, 8 RBI and five multi-hit games.
MANNY PALENCIA IS BREAKING OUT!!!
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 16, 2026
The catcher hits his FOURTH home run in SEVEN August games to put Somerset up 4-1!!! pic.twitter.com/pTy73pSzR3
C Manny Palencia (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R) pummeled his fourth home run of August on a two-run shot to left field in the sixth inning. After no homers in his first 192 at bats of the season, Palencia is 11-for-27 with four homers in August. He also extended his on-base streak to a season-high tying eight games, slashing .419/.438/.871 with six XBH in that span.
After rocking just one extra base hit prior to July, Palencia’s nine XBH since July 1 have raised his season-long OPS from .504 to .679 in 20 games. Since the beginning of July, Palencia has nine multi-hit games and is slashing .387/.410/.613 with 4 HR, 11 RBI and 9 XBH in that span. Palencia’s .387 AVG leads all Double-A catchers with over 75 plate appearances in that stretch.
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