PORTLAND, MAINE – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats head home on a high note, defeating the Portland Sea Dogs 3-1 on Sunday, splitting their series with the Boston Red Sox Double-A affiliate.
Unlike the previous three games of the series, Portland struck first on Sunday, thanks to a Deiner Lopez solo shot in the second inning.
However, Fisher Cats starting pitcher Jon Harris would allow just one more hit over his seven-inning appearance, striking out seven Sea Dogs before making way for Danny Young.
Portland starting pitcher Matthew Kent lasted one inning longer than Harris, but began to tire later in the contest, beginning with a key Andrew Guillotte double in the fifth.
An error allowed Guillotte to reach third and with Jon Berti batting, Guillotte took New Hampshire’s first run on a perfectly executed double steal, heading home while Gunnar Heidt took second.
Cavan Biggio’s triple in the sixth gave New Hampshire the lead, putting Eduard Pinto across for the ‘Cats second run, and a double from Heidt in the seventh allowed Guillotte to add another insurance run.
Young shut the door in the eighth and ninth to earn his second save of the year, helping Harris boost his record to 7-3. With the loss, Kent dropped to 5-7.
At the plate, Jeremy Rivera had two of Portland’s four hits on the day while Guillotte accounted for a quarter of New Hampshire’s eight hits, going 2-for-4.
The Fisher Cats now head home to face the Trenton Thunder for a four-game set, their last appearance in Manchester this season.
As the two teams jockey for first place in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division, a role just regained by New Hampshire today with their win in Portland and Trenton’s 4-3 loss to Richmond, Trenton seeks to regain first place with their ace, Domingo Acevedo (2-1, 2.66 ERA). New Hampshire sends All-Star Jordan Romano in response (8-4, 3.93 ERA), with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
