On an overcast Saturday night in Manchester, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats dropped their second game in a row to the Hartford Yard Goats, 3-2.
Hartford got on the board in the third inning thanks to a homer from Dom Nunez and a double from Drew Weeks, driving in Emerson Jimenez.
While Nunez was batting in the seventh, a wild pitch by New Hamphire’s Shane Dawson allowed Dillon Thomas to give Hartford its third run.
The Fisher Cats grabbed a pair of runs later in the seventh thanks to a Harold Ramirez homer and a Jonathan Davis RBI single.
Those runs would be enough to drive Hartford’s Luis Neibla from the mound. However, Shane Broyles and D.J. Johnson would shut down the Fisher Cats after that, allowing only two more New Hampshire hits on the day.
Neibla, the expected starter, arrived in the fifth inning and got the win to follow up four scoreless innings from spot starter Sam Howard.
Shane Dawson’s strong start was not enough, as he was the hard-luck loser for New Hampshire. Dawson dropped to 0-2 despite allowing only four hits in seven innings of work.
Anthony Alford returned to the lineup after two days off, grabbing two of New Hampshire’s seven hits in the process to grow his hitting streak to six games and 11 of his first 12 games of the season.
Following Saturday’s action, Alford retains the Eastern League lead in batting average and on-base percentage, but has lost the league lead in slugging percentage, falling to ninth with a .600 figure.
New Hampshire second baseman Tim Lopes also added to his hitting streak, which is now at eight games and 10 of his first 12.
The Fisher Cats will conclude their series against Hartford with a 1:35 p.m. matinee before welcoming the Trenton Thunder in for a three-game set. New Hampshire ace Sean Reid-Foley (0-1, 5.68) will seek to break his slump against Hartford’s Ryan Castellani (1-1, 3.94).
