The New Hampshire Fisher Cats leave Hartford with a 4-3 win thanks to a strong performance from touted Blue Jays prospect Sean Reid-Foley.
Reid Foley (2-3) has struggled on the mound so far this season, failing to get past the fourth inning in five of his first six starts. Tuesday however, was an echo of his sole other win this year, which also occurred against Hartford.
In that start on April 23, Reid-Foley went five innings, allowing one run and three hits. That was the case on Tuesday as well, although this time he also allowed no walks and struck out seven Yard Goat batters.
Gunnar Heidt went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a run. Heidt came home in the ninth by thanks to a single from catcher Mike Reeves, Tim Lopes and Jonathan Davis also contributed RBIs on sacrifice flies earlier in the game.
New Hampshire’s other run came from Harold Ramirez, who hit a solo shot over the right centerfield fence in the fourth.
Hartford also got a homer, a ninth inning blast from Drew Weeks. Following Hartford’s first score in the fourth, Weeks’ shot brought the Yard Goats within a run of the lead, but Tim Mayza struck out the final two batters to earn his second save of the season.
Sam Howard (0-3) got the loss for Hartford, going six innings and allowing two runs, only one earned. Despite the result, he also had an impressive day, giving up just three hits and striking out eight while walking two Fisher Cats batters.
Combined with his previous appearance in Manchester on April 22, Howard now holds an ERA under 1.00 against New Hampshire batters following Tuesday’s contest.
New Hampshire (11-21) still hold the worst record in the Eastern League, but they will hope to improve tomorrow with a new series in Altoona.
Conner Greene (1-2, 3.57 ERA) takes the mound for New Hampshire against Altoona’s Austin Coley (1-1, 3.47 ERA)
First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
