MANCHESTER, N.H. – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats earned their second walk-off win of the year on Tuesday night, defeating the Portland Sea Dogs, 10-9, in ten innings.
Both teams traded runs throughout the contest, but Portland held the lead until Tanner Kirwer’s sacrifice fly RBI brought Jordan Groshans home in the seventh, evening things up at 7-7.
Portland procured RBI singles from Devlin Granberg and Pedro Castellanos in the top of the tenth, but the Fisher Cats refused to call it a night. With Kirwer starting the bottom of the tenth on second base, Chris Bec took a 1-0 pitch down the center of the plate and sent it to left for a single, bringing Kirwer home. After Reggie Pruitt struck out, Bec would steal second and Samad Taylor would be walked by new pitcher Seth Blair.
Blair loaded the bases when he hit Chavez Young with a pitch and then he’d hit Otto Lopez to blow the save and bring Bec home to even things up. All that was left was for L.J. Talley to take a 3-2 pitch to centerfield, enough to bring Taylor home and conclude the contest.
The two teams combined for 30 hits on the night, with New Hampshire getting multi-hit nights from Talley (3), Lopez (2), Young (2) and Jordan Groshans (2). Lopez finished with three RBI while Talley and Kirwer also notched two RBI apiece. Both of Groshans hits were doubles, while Lopez collected his 17th double of the year. Kirwer also recorded an extra-base hit, a home run to right in the second.
Johnny Barbato did not have a great start for the Fisher Cats, as one would expect from the score, but he did enough to keep the Fisher Cats in the contest. Barbato allowed six earned runs and one unearned run off ten hits and three walks, striking out two in 5 1/3 innings of work.
The win would go to Brody Rodning (2-3), who pitched the Fisher Cats through the tenth.
