May is gone, and the Fisher Cats have returned to Manchester from their grand tour of Pennsylvania. It’s June 3, 2019 and here’s what’s been going on recently on the path 400 miles to Toronto.
Harrisburg (Road)
Tuesday, May 28 – Harrisburg 8, New Hampshire 4 (7 inn. – shortened due to weather)
Wednesday, May 29 – Harrisburg 5, New Hampshire 4
Thursday, May 30 – Harrisburg 5, New Hampshire 1
Altoona (Road)
Friday, May 31 – New Hampshire 5, Altoona 4
Saturday, June 1 – Altoona 4, New Hampshire 3
Sunday, June 2 – New Hampshire 4, Altoona 1
Hanging in There
A 2-4 record might not seem like much, but if a few moments here and there went differently, the Fisher Cats could easily be returning to New Hampshire with a 5-1 road trip.
Indeed, New Hampshire could have swept Altoona for a second time this year, if not for a walk-off home run on Saturday.
Fisher Cats manager Mike Mordecai was pleased with his squad’s effort, despite the final results.
“Going into Harrisburg, we basically played a Triple-A team. We hung in there tight, but it didn’t go our way. Played much better in the series against Altoona. (We) could have won all three of those games.”
New Hampshire now has to wait until 2020 to see Altoona again, but Harrisburg will make a trip to Manchester from July 22 to 24.
Stepping Up to the Plate
Earlier in the year, Alberto Mineo and Santiago Espinal made up the core of New Hampshire’s offensive output, but as they’ve slowed, Riley Adams and Forrest Wall have picked up the slack.
Since his promotion from Advanced-A Dunedin on May 3, Adams has an impressive .310/.506/.883 slash line, with seven extra base hits and 13 RBI.
Although Wall has played in almost twice as many games, he holds an almost identical .312/.473/.886 slash line. On the way to this week’s Eastern League Player of the Week Award, he went 12-for-23 (.521) during the Harrisburg and Altoona series.
Both men remain in impressive hitting streaks, with Wall at 14 and Adams at 12 following the Altoona series.
Transactions
Heading up to Triple-A Buffalo, the Fisher Cats bid farewell to pitchers Zach Logue and William Ouelette as well as end of Patrick Kivlehan’s short tenure.
Gunnar Heidt’s tenure with the Fisher Cats also ended, following his release on May 30.
Heidt spent parts of the last three seasons in New Hampshire, hitting just .176 for the Fisher Cats this year in 14 appearances.
Tyler Saucedo returned from Buffalo, wth Joshua Palacios also rejoining the Fisher Cats from the 7-Day DL.
Fisher Cats of the Week
Batting – Forrest Wall: 12-for-23 (.521), 6 2B, 7 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1 SB, 4 BB
Pitching – Jackson McClelland: 2 IP, 2 Ks, 0 H, 0 ER
