MANCHESTER, NH – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats split their fourth doubleheader in a row, finishing Saturday with a 5-3 loss to the Hartford Yard Goats followed by a 4-1 win in Game 2.
New Hampshire took the lead early in the first game, thanks to Vladimir Guerrero’s RBI single to right. That brought home Jonathan Davis and gave the Fisher Cats a lead until Yonathan Daza’s two-run homer in the third.
Juan Kelly gave back the lead to New Hampshire in the fourth with a blast off Yard Goat starter Ryan Castellani, but the Fisher Cats couldn’t add more runs in the inning, squandering contributions from Cavan Biggio and Connor Panas.
That would come back to haunt the ‘Cats, with Hartford putting three runs across in the top of the seventh, with Matt Pierpont replacing Castellani to retire the side in the bottom of the inning, sealing the victory.
Castellani (3-2) allowed just six hits during his outing, walking four and striking out one.
New Hampshire starting pitcher Nick Tepesch left without a decision despite his best showing as a Fisher Cat so far this year, allowing just three Yard Goat hits during his six innings of work. The loss would ultimately go to Kirby Snead (1-1), who allowed his first earned runs since early April with the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League.
New Hampshire scored early again in the second game, with Cavan Biggio and Andrew Guillotte each providing RBI.
An Omar Carrizales sacrifice fly to right let Scott Burcham score in the third, cutting New Hampshire’s lead in half. However, that would be all the Yard Goats could muster off New Hampshire pitching, which combined to allow just six hits to Hartford in the second contest.
Kelly would add another home run later in the third to provide New Hampshire insurance for its victory.
Jordan Barrett retired ten Hartford batters in his Fisher Cats debut, making the jump from the Rookie League Bluefield Blue Jays in 2017.
The win went to Nick Hartman (1-0), allowing four hits and two walks in his two innings relieving Barrett, with Andrew Case getting his third save of the year after retiring the final four Hartford batters.
Craig Schlitter (0-1) was tagged with the loss, giving up five hits and two walks in his three-inning spot start performance.
Both teams are back at it again on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
