The New Hampshire Fisher Cats were two outs away from a three-game sweep of the Portland Sea Dogs. Instead, one swing of the bat helped Portland walk off with an 8-7 win.
New Hampshire held the lead for most of the contest, holding a three-run advantage heading into the bottom of the ninth with Justin Shafer coming in to get the save.
However, Shafer (2-2) could only record one out, loading the bases for Jeremy Barfield. The Houston, Texas native would take an 0-2 pitch over the Green Monster facsimile in leftfield, the first walk-off home run against the Fisher Cats since Scott Kingery’s shot on May 29.
Barfield’s walk-off blast was his fourth hit of the day, with four other Sea Dogs contributing multi-hit days on the way to victory.
Both teams ended with 15 hits each, with the Fisher Cats getting a four-hit day from Tim Lopes and a three-hit day from Andrew Guillotte.
New Hampshire starting pitcher Conner Greene was in line for the win before the walk-off homer. He scattered nine hits over seven innings, tied for his longest appearance of the year.
All-Star selection Teddy Stankiewicz left after 5 2/3 innings, giving up six runs off 12 hits. Jake Cosart (3-2) got the win for his three outs in the ninth.
The Fisher Cats now face the Trenton Thunder, with a 7 p.m. first pitch scheduled on Friday night at Arm and Hammer Park in New Jersey’s capital. Francisco Rios (3-7, 4.55 ERA) takes the mound for New Hampshire against Trenton All-Star selection Yefry Ramirez (8-3, 3.75 ERA).
