MANCHESTER, NH – The baseball pundits can fixate on Vlad all they want, the 2018 New Hampshire Fisher Cats are continually proving they can be competitive every single night, even in the absence of the teenage phenom.
With Guerrero still recuperating on the disabled list, the Fisher Cats welcomed the Bowie Bay Sox to Manchester on Friday night, defeating them 4-2.
New Hampshire grabbed an early run that a second inning Audry Perez homer quickly negated, leaving the game deadlocked until the sixth.
There, Bowie briefly took a 2-1 advantage before Harold Ramirez added his second RBI of the night, a single that allowed Bo Bichette to cross the plate.
A Cavan Biggio sacrifice fly allowed Patrick Cantwell to score an inning later and Ramirez provided a one-run home run in the eighth to complete the game’s scoreline.
Along with the potent 2-for-4 night from Ramirez, New Hampshire got a masterful starting pitching performance from TJ Zeuch.
The Ohio native has now won his past four starts, allowing a total of six combined earned runs in that stretch, one run less than the start that preceded that streak versus Binghamton on May 18.
Zeuch (4-2) pitched seven innings, scattering four hits and two walks before making way for Jose Fernandez.
Andrew Case and Danny Young followed Fernandez in the ninth to complete the victory, with Young earning his first save of the year.
Christian Binford lasted six innings in the start for Bowie, with Michael Kelly (1-4) getting the loss.
At the plate, Bichette and Gunnar Heidt led the way, each recording a 3-for-4 night. Aderlin Rodriguez topped Bowie’s batters, marking his first appearance in Manchester since winning the Eastern League All-Star Home Run Derby last year with a 2-for-4 night.
Josh DeGraaf (1-2, 6.39 ERA) returns to the mound for New Hampshire on Saturday night. In his first start after this week’s suspension, he’ll face Bowie lefthander Keegan Akin (6-4, 2.73 ERA).
