The New Hampshire Fisher Cats dropped the first game of their three-game set against the Hartford Yard Goats on Tuesday night, 5-1.
Neither team could get on the board until the 7th when Hartford struck for four runs in a rally that saw seven men come to the plate.
Reese McGuire hit his third home run of the year for New Hampshire half an inning later to put the home team on the board, but that was as close as the Fisher Cats would get in this contest.
Stephen Cardullo added a two-run homer in the eighth to put the game out of reach for New Hampshire, with Hartford reliever Matt Pierpoint shutting down the Fisher Cats over the last two innings of the evening.
Hartford’s Konner Wade scattered seven hits in seven innings of work, the fifth time he’s gone without allowing a run in his last ten outings.
Ryan Borucki also went seven innings in the loss for New Hampshire, giving up four runs off eight hits, striking out five and walking one Yard Goat.
McGuire was the only Fisher Cat with more than one hit during the game, Cardullo and Josh Fuentes each had three hits for Hartford while Yard Goat designated hitter Correlle Prime had a pair of hits.
With the loss, New Hampshire’s magic number for elimination from playoff contention is down to one, meaning a loss on Wednesday or a win by the Binghamton Rumble Ponies would finally conclude any hopes of post-season contention this year for the Fisher Cats.
On Wednesday at 7:05 p.m., Jon Harris (6-10, 5.26 ERA) takes the mound against Hartford’s Jack Wynkoop (5-8, 4.65 ERA).
