PORTLAND, Maine – Hopefully Patrick Murphy can take some of the runs his teammates accumulated on Thursday and apply them to future starts. Or, he could just keep on pitching the way he did.
Either way, Murphy finally picked up his first win of the year in the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ series finale against the Portland Sea Dogs, leaving with an 11-1 victory.
Murphy allowed just one hit over seven innings of work, with only Jeremy Rivera’s RBI single after Murphy’s departure preventing the Fisher Cats’ staff from earning the shutout.
By that point, the Fisher Cats had made the outcome of the contest a long-foregone conclusion.
Nash Knight and Vinny Capra contributed back-to-back homers in the third. Forest Wall’s leadoff triple sparked a five-run fifth. Five walks helped add three runs in the eighth, and there were more offensive contributions in between those three big innings that easily could have added to additional runs for the visitors.
Only Kevin Smith and Santiago Espinal finished without a hit among New Hampshire’s lineup. Knight ended with three hits while Wall, Capra and Brock Lundquist ended with two hits apiece. Lundquist also provided three RBI in the win.
Murphy, now 1-4, added seven strikeouts to his near perfect performance while getting the win. Tanner Houck (2-3) left after two outs in the third, allowing the two home runs and three other hits during his start.
Next up for New Hampshire: a three-game set in Binghamton. Game 1 features New Hampshire’s Hector Perez (1-2, 8.18 ERA) against a pitcher not yet named.