TRENTON, N.J. – Kevin Smith’s late home run proved to be the difference on Thursday night as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeated the Trenton Thunder, 4-2.
Trenton and New Hampshire traded early runs, but neither side could break through until the top of the eighth. Logan Warmoth’s RBI triple broke the deadlock, but Smith’s two-run blast helped New Hampshire keep the lead when Eduardo Navas brought Brandon Wagner home in the bottom of the ninth to give Trenton their second run.
New Hampshire reliever Danny Young wasn’t given a chance to get the game’s final out after Navas, making way for righthander Jackson McClelland to face Trenton righthander David Metzgar.
McClelland needed just three pitches to force Metzgar to fly out weakly to center, stranding Trenton’s final two runners and sealing his first save of the season.
At the plate, every New Hampshire batter had at least one hit except for Riley Adams and Chad Spanberger. Warmoth had three hits, Smith had a double to go along with his home run and scored the Fisher Cats’ first run while Vinny Capra and Santiago Espinal also each contributed a pair of hits.
Yennsy Diaz hurled six strong innings for New Hampshire, but the win went to Justin Dillon for his spotless seventh inning.
Will Carter got the loss for Trenton, recording four outs and falling to 1-1 on the season.
Another game between these two games will happen on Friday at 7 p.m. as New Hampshire sends Hector Perez (4-3, 5.35 ERA) against Trenton’s Rony “rhymes with pony” Garcia (1-5, 5.67).
