MANCHESTER, NH – So far, the 2018 New Hampshire Fisher Cats have shown that they can score plenty of runs, but they couldn’t get enough on Saturday night, falling 10-6 to the Trenton Thunder.
New Hampshire got on the board in the first thanks to a pair of doubles, first from Bo Bichette, followed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to bring Bichette home.
The Thunder responded in the third, courtesy of a two-run shot to the Hilton Garden Inn left centerfield patio by Vincente Conde.
Trenton added seven more runs in the fourth, punctuated by a Jhalan Jackson three-run homer over the leftfield fence. That offensive explosion was enough to chase New Hampshire starting pitcher Jon Harris from the contest, the first time this year he has not completed at least five innings of work.
An eight-run deficit would be imposing to most teams, but not the 2018 Fisher Cats.
New Hampshire would force Trenton hurler Will Carter from the contest in the fifth, sending nine men to the plate and cutting the lead down to three off hits from Gunnar Heidt, Vladimir Guerrero, Cavan Biggio, Conor Panas and a pair of Trenton errors.
Both teams then left bases loaded in the sixth, with Trenton’s Chris Gittens providing the only run from either team in the inning.
That would be the final run of the evening, with New Hampshire stranding three more batters over the final three innings.
After the game, Fisher Cats manager John Schneider praised the performance of his pitching staff for the season as a whole to this point, particularly the bullpen. However, he admitted that his guys just did not have their best stuff on this night.
“I think we know that this offense is scoring a lot of runs and they can do it pretty quickly, but it’s tough when you give up seven runs (in one inning) said Schneider.
The game drew 6,685 fans, just over a thousand more fans than their Opening Day contest against Hartford, the second-most attended home game for the Fisher Cats so far this season. It also marked just the second time in this season that they did not either win or force their opponents into a save situation.
A Sunday matinee rubber match will mark Trenton’s departure from New Hampshire. Francisco Rios (0-2, 8.53 ERA) will face off against Thunder righthander Erik Swanson (4-0, 0.87 ERA).
