MANCHESTER, N.H. – Patrick Murphy put in another strong performance but remains winless, taking the loss as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats fell 4-3 to the Hartford Yard Goats on Friday night.
Murphy lasted six innings, and saw all four Hartford runs, three of which were earned.
Hartford starting pitcher Brandon Gold shut down New Hampshire during his five innings of work, but the hosts finally began to hit a rhythm after Gold was replaced with Scott Griggs in the sixth.
Santiago Espinal welcomed Griggs with a double to right. New Hampshire eventually put three runs on the board in the rally, but Griggs stranded Nash Knight on third to escape with the lead and Murphy’s bad luck still intact.
Both teams combined for just two more hits over the game’s final three innings to place both teams one game below .500 in the standings when all was said and done.
Murphy now stands at 0-4 despite recording eight strikeouts on the day. Gold got the win to climb to 2-2 while Ben Bowden picked up his eighth save of the year after retiring the side in the ninth.
Espinal joined Knight, Vinny Capra and Brock Lundquist with a pair of hits while Kevin Smith also added a pair of walks.
Like Murphy, Hector Perez (1-2, 10.69 ERA) will seek improvement as he heads to the mound for New Hampshire on Saturday. Hartford counters with Ty Culbreth (3-1, 3.86 ERA) with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
