RubberDucks Game Recap Fisher Cats 9 RubberDucks 6WP: Jon Harris (6-10) LP: Matt Esparza (5-5) Save: Andrew Case (6)SummaryA pair of three-run home runs by New Hampshire's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Tim Lopes powered the Fisher Cats' offensive attack 9-5 over the Akron RubberDucks at Canal Park on Thursday night.
RubberDucks Game Recap
Fisher Cats 9 RubberDucks 6
WP: Jon Harris (6-10) LP: Matt Esparza (5-5) Save: Andrew Case (6)
Summary
A pair of three-run home runs by New Hampshire's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Tim Lopes powered the Fisher Cats' offensive attack 9-5 over the Akron RubberDucks at Canal Park on Thursday night.
Turning Point
A three-run bomb in the first inning by New Hampshire's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. jump-started the Fisher Cats in the series finale. New Hampshire scored three in the first, three in the second and added another run in the third to take an early 7-2 lead over Akron.
Winging It
Akron starter Matt Esparza had his shortest outing of the season only working 3.2 innings. Esparza gave up seven runs on eight hits. All seven runs were scored off of three home runs yielded by the Ducks right-hander. In relief for Akron, Mitch Brown gave up two runs on three hits in 2.1 innings. The bright spot of the Ducks pitching staff was right-hander D.J. Brown who struck out five in three scoreless innings of work. D.J. has been the Ducks' best reliever as of late as he has now thrown 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to July 22. New Hampshire starter Jon Harris picked up his sixth win of the season, striking out six, giving up two earned runs in six innings.
Duck Tales
Ducks outfielder Luigi Rodriguez blasted his 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field in the second inning. The homer by Rodriguez ties his career high set with Lynchburg in 2015. Akron struck for two more runs in the seventh when Greg Allen hit a sacrifice fly and Mike Papi hit an RBI groundout. The Ducks added one more run in the eighth when Tyler Krieger hit a sacrifice fly scoring Yu Chang. Akron brought the winning run to the plate in Eric Haase who hit into a game-ending double play. Akron scored in the inning when Yu Chang lifted a fly ball to center and New Hampshire center fielder Anthony Alford dropped a routine fly out to score Greg Allen from first.
Notebook
Greg Allen extended his hitting streak to seven games, going 1-3 with an RBI on Thursday… Following Eric Haase's two-home run game on Wednesday night, he is now tied for most home runs at Canal Park in a single season with 14. Haase is currently tied with current Cleveland Indian Carlos Santana and Jonathan Van Every… The Ducks win streak comes to an end at four games… Time of Game: 2:51… Attendance: 5,651.
On Deck
The RubberDucks will welcome the Binghamton Rumble Ponies to Akron tomorrow to begin a four-game series. The two clubs will play a doubleheader beginning at 5:35 p.m. tomorrow. Shao-Ching Chiang (0-0, 5.06) will start Game 1 for Akron followed by lefty David Speer (2-2, 4.89) in Game 2. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1350 AM, the WARF iHeart channel, and the TuneIn Radio App.
