HARRISBURG, Penn. – Yogi Berra once said that in baseball it doesn’t matter when you score, as long as your team scores more runs than the other team. Or maybe he didn’t say that. Whatever. Either way, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats scored three late runs to earn a 6-5 victory over the Harrisburg Senators on Tuesday night.
Neither team managed to get a man across the plate over the first five innings, with New Hampshire finally breaking the deadlock in the top of the sixth on a bases loaded walk to Chavez Young that would bring Samad Taylor across the plate. Demi Orimoloye added two more runs on a single later in the inning and the Fisher Cats may have gotten more runs if Young wasn’t caught trying for third on Orimoloye’s hit.
A Gilbert Lara double in the seventh brought the Senators back within a run and a two-run homer by Donovan Casey in the eighth would put Harrisburg ahead, 4-3.
Taylor would put the Fisher Cats ahead again in the ninth on a three run homer to right, and it would ultimately be enough to keep the visitors ahead for good, although a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth by New Hampshire hurler Sean Rackoski allowed Harrisburg’s Jakson Reetz to come home in what would be the contest’s last run.
Despite that run, Rackoski earned his third save of the year and Marcus Reyes climbed to 2-0 despite also earning a blown save thanks to Casey’s home run.
New Hampshire Starting Pitcher Casey Lawrence allowed just three bases runners over five innings of work.
At the plate, Taylor and Orimoloye each had two hits with Kevin Vicuña collecting his 11th double of the year. L.J. Talley and Chris Bec each also had two walks for the Fisher Cats.