BOWIE, MD – Move over seven, eight is the new lucky number – at least for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
On Wednesday, the Fisher Cats put up eight runs in the eighth inning, securing a 10-3 victory over the Bowie Bay Sox.
Bowie entered that fateful inning nursing a 3-2 lead until Gabriel Moreno’s single brought Samad Taylor and Austin Martin across the plate, putting Moreno at three RBI on the night and giving New Hampshire the lead. The Fisher Cats weren’t done though, as Vinny Capra’s single brought home Moreno and Otto Lopez and Nick Podkul would hit a grand slam to put an exclamation point on New Hampshire’s rally.
Every single Fisher Cat scored at least one run, with Lopez scoring twice. In addition to the RBI from Moreno, Capra and Podkul, Tanner Kirwer also recorded an RBI in the second when he drew a walk on four pitches with the bases loaded. The Fisher Cats would end with nine walks In total, including three from Taylor.
Moreno, Lopez and Capra finished with two hits each, Kirwer also added a double to go with his bases loaded walk.
On the mound, Johnny Barbato returned to form after a rough start against Hartford last week, posting his third Double-A quality start of the season. Barbato lasted six innings, just one pitch short of 100 in total, giving up three runs off seven hits and two walks against five strikeouts.
Graham Spraker and Jon Harris combined for six more strikeouts, allowing just one baserunner over the final three frames of the contest. Spraker picked up the victory, putting him at 1-0 on the year.
Elvus Luciano (0-0, 3.52 ERA) will continue his return from injury on Thursday, taking the mound against Bowie’s Kyle Brnovich (0-0, 0.00 ERA) with a 6:35 p.m. start.
