Manchester, NH – Five New Hampshire players recorded multi-hit efforts on Tuesday night, as the Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) defeated the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) 8-2 at Delta Dental Stadium.
Samad Taylor went 3-for-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch in the series opener. Kevin Vicuña, Tanner Kirwer, LJ Talley and Nick Podkul all recorded two hits, with Podkul and Vicuña registering multi-RBI efforts.
On the mound, Reilly Hovis (W, 2-1) allowed just one earned run in five innings, while Connor Law (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K), Sean Rackoski (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K), Marcus Reyes (1.0 IP, 1 K), and Kyle Johnston (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) combined for four scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
The Yard Goats (24-54) pushed across an unearned run in the second against Hovis to take the early lead. After Matt Hearn singled with one out, Jose Gomez grounded a ball to Hovis, who made a wild throw to second, allowing Hearn to move to third. Two batters later, Coco Montes stroked a sacrifice fly to left to put Hartford ahead 1-0.
In the fourth, Hartford added to its lead. Once again, Hearn singled with one out, and Gomez followed with an RBI double to left to give the Yard Goats a 2-0 edge.
New Hampshire (36-39) jumped ahead in the fifth and never trailed again. Taylor laid down a leadoff bunt single against Hartford starter David Hill, and advanced to second on a throwing error by the third baseman Elehuris Montero. Following a Chavez Young walk, Jordan Groshans moved Taylor to third on a fly ball to center.
PJ Pouli (L, 0-1) replaced Hill (4.2IP, 3H, 2R, 3BB, 5K) and allowed Young to swipe second with Talley batting. Talley struck out, but the next batter, Vicuña, grounded a two-run single to right to make it a 2-2 contest.
Podkul then stroked a single to right to put runners at the corners. With Ryan Gold batting, Podkul broke towards second. While in a rundown, Vicuña scampered home to score before Podkul was tagged out, giving New Hampshire a 3-2 lead.
Podkul helped pad the Fisher Cats lead with a two-run homer in the seventh against Nick Kennedy to up the New Hampshire advantage to 5-2.
The Fisher Cats added three more runs in the eighth, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Young, an RBI single from Talley, and an RBI single from Vicuña.
New Hampshire continues its series against the Yard Goats with a 12:05 p.m. game on Wednesday. Right-hander Johnny Barbato (2-2, 4.76 ERA) takes the hill for the Fisher Cats against Hartford righty Ryan Feltner (1-2, 3.67 ERA).
