MANCHESTER, NH – Thursday marked Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s long awaited return to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats following an injury in June, a return some speculated might not come. It also marked a 6-3 victory for the Fisher Cats against the visiting Harrisburg Senators.
All three Harrisburg runs came in the third, with the Senators beginning the inning with a pair of singles followed by a Cavan Biggio error that brought the first run around.
Hunter Jones’ single in the fourth at-bat of the inning brought Zach Collier in for the second run of the inning and a Dan Gamache first pitch single to center accounted for the third run.
New Hampshire immediately responded in the bottom of the inning, with Andrew Guillotte eventually coming across the plate following his leadoff double.
Bo Bichette added another lead off double in the sixth, spearheading two runs there to tie up the contest, and four straight hits in the seventh provided a catalyst for three more runs in the seventh.
Bichette added another double in that rally, also ending the day with three RBI. Guillotte joined him in the multi-hit club with a 2-for-3 day.
Guerrero ended the day 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.
Both teams ended the day with eight hits apiece, with five of Harrisburg’s hits coming from Alec Keller (3) and Gamache (2).
Justin Dillon climbed to 2-4 on the season after retiring Harrisburg in order in the seventh, following a seven-hit, six-inning performance from TJ Zeuch. Andrew Case pitched the ninth for his seventh save of the year.
On the other side, the loss went to Tyler Mapes, falling to 1-2 on the year. Mapes lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs off five hits, striking out five in the effort.
The two teams are at it again on Friday at 7:05 p.m., with New Hampshire’s Jon Harris (7-3, 4.47 ERA) facing off against Harrisburg’s Sterling Sharp (1-1, 5.14 ERA).
