MANCHESTER, NH – Even the best teams lose sometimes, but while the New Hampshire Fisher Cats have been one of the best teams in the Eastern League this season, they generally haven’t lost by much when they’ve lost. However, there are some exceptions. Thursday night was a big one.
The Fisher Cats lost by more than three runs for only the fifth time this year, falling to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, 11-1.
Binghamton dominated every facet of the game, so much so that it was difficult to ascertain whether the offense or pitching was more impressive.
Winning pitcher Nabil Crismatt (4-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth, a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single that sparked two more hits and consequentially, New Hampshire’s only run of the night.
Crismatt had thrown 97 pitches by the end of the sixth, but saw his lead remain safe as Joshua Torres and Tyler Bashlor limited New Hampshire to just three more hits over the length of the contest.
With Levi Michael coming across the plate thanks to a Francisco Rios wild pitch in the third, Kevin Taylor’s fourth inning home run would have been enough right there, but the New York Mets prospects were not done.
Jeff McNeil took Rios deep in the fifth for his 10th homer of the year, five of which have now come off New Hampshire pitching.
Rios left after the fifth, but the Rumble Ponies added four more runs in a rally one inning later, followed by a two-run homer from Kevin Taylor in the eighth and an RBI single by Peter Alonso in the ninth to conclude the night’s scoring tally.
It was the longest appearance of the year for Rios (0-3), returning earlier in the day from extended spring training. He, along with New Hampshire relievers Jose Fernandez and Andrew Case, allowed seven hits apiece, combining to come just short of franchise record 24 hits allowed to Erie on June 15, 2013.
The outing was particularly concerning in the case of Case, who has now allowed twice as many runs this year as he did for the Fisher Cats last year, despite just under half as many innings pitched.
Harold Ramirez was the only Fisher Cat with more than one hit going 2-for-3 with the RBI in the sixth, with Binghamton getting two hit nights from Alonso, Matt Oberste, and John Mora. Then again, all nine of Binghamton’s batters had at least one hit, with Taylor, Michael, and Jhoan Urena collecting three and McNeil collecting four hits for the second time in 31 games played this season.
The Fisher Cats play two on Friday against Binghamton, making up the postponed game between the two teams on April 16.
In Game 1, scheduled for 5:35 p.m. Sean Reid Foley (5-0, 1.88 ERA) takes the mound for New Hampshire against Binghamton’s Marcos Molina (1-3, 6.66 ERA). The second game features New Hampshire’s TJ Zeuch (0-1, 4.50 ERA) against a Rumble Ponies pitcher yet to be announced.
