MANCHESTER, N.H. – So far this season, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats bullpen has struggled, with Saturday marking another chapter in those troubles as the Fisher Cats fell 7-6 to the Portland Sea Dogs.
Portland struck first, beginning with Joey Menses grabbing RBI hits in the first and second and Triston Casas scoring Pedro Castellanos on a triple.
New Hampshire erased that lead thanks to two-run home runs in the third and fourth innings from Chavez Young and Samad Taylor respectively. In the fifth, Young scored again on a wild pitch and Otto Lopez scored Austin Martin to extend his hitting streak to fifteen games.
That lead would hold until Brody Rodning allowed four Portland runs in the ninth, enough to hand New Hampshire the loss.
The Portland rally was Rodning’s second blown save in the Portland series, contrasting with the pair of scoreless appearances he made during the series against the Sea Dogs in Portland.
At the plate, Lopez’ RBI single and the two home runs were the only Fisher Cat hits of the night, with the Sea Dogs bullpen retiring nine of the last ten batters they faced. The winning pitcher was Jake Thompson (1-0) for his three outs in the eighth and Jose Adames retired the Fisher Cats in the ninth to earn his league-leading fourth save.
The series concludes on Sunday as Elvis Luciano (0-0, 4.05 ERA) takes the mound for New Hampshire against Portland’s Josh Winckowski (1-0, 1.88 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
