MANCHESTER, N.H. – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats dropped the first game of their series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Tuesday night, falling 5-2.
Binghamton struck first with a pair of homers in the second, a solo shot by Jeremiah Jackson followed by a three-run blast by Agustin Ruiz, his 15th Eastern League homer of the year.
Drew Gilbert added another home run for the visitors in the fifth, ultimately providing all the offense that the ‘Ponies would need for the victory.
New Hampshire avoided the shutout with some late runs as Leo Jimenez drove home Steward Berroa on a line drive single in the eighth and Riley Tirotta’s RBI single in the ninth brought home Rainer Nunez.
The Fisher Cats finished with nine hits on the night, with Jimenez and Miguel Hiraldo each collecting two hits apiece.
Luis Quinones (4-4) was the loser for the ‘Cats, going 4 2/3 innings in his start and giving up five runs off seven hits and a walk, striking out six.
Both teams are back at it again on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. as New Hampshire sends out lefthander Ricky Tiedemann (0-3, 6.35 ERA) against Binghamton’s Tyler Stuart (2-2, 4.34 ERA).
