New Hampshire Falls Flat Late, Loses Third Straight

ALTOONA, PA— The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (18-34, 48-72) were held scoreless over the last five innings in a 5-4 10-inning loss to the Altoona Curve (22-31, 51-71) at Peoples Natural Gas Field Friday night. After jumping out to a 4-0 advantage, the Fisher Cats allowed five unanswered runs from the sixth through 10th.

First baseman Rainer Nuñez led the offense for New Hampshire with two hits, including his 12th home run of the season. The Cats first baseman clobbered a two-run shot off the pitch clock in center field. New Hampshire has now hit a homer in eight straight games. Left fielder Dasan Brown also clubbed three hits, two of which were doubles. Second baseman Ryan McCarty extended his hit streak to 11 games, the longest mark for a Fisher Cat this season.

Right-hander Kevin Miranda made his first career Double-A start Thursday and tossed five scoreless innings. The Curve didn’t manage a hit off Miranda until the bottom of the fifth, and the base knock didn’t leave the infield. Miranda recorded one strikeout and didn’t walk a batter.

Dahian Santos pitched the next two innings, bouncing back with a scoreless seventh after giving up a three-run homer in the sixth. Anders Tolhurst tossed a scoreless eighth, then Johnathan Lavallee (L, 0-1) allowed the game-tying run in the ninth and the winning run in the 10th.

The Cats started strong, as RJ Schreck walked, Nuñez singled, then Alex De Jesus drove in Schreck to score the game’s first run. Brown doubled New Hampshire’s advantage in the fourth with a screaming two-bagger down the left field line to score Michael Turconi. Nuñez plated McCarty with his fifth-inning home run. New Hampshire led 4-0 after five frames.

Altoona bounced back with a three-run home run by Nick Cimillo in the bottom of the sixth, then a Jase Bown sacrifice fly in the ninth which tied the game at four. After New Hampshire failed to score its automatic runner in the top of the 10th, the Curve’s Brendan Dixon singled with the bases loaded to walk it off. The Fisher Cats left five runners on base in the game’s last five innings.

New Hampshire and Altoona play game four of six at 6:00 PM EDT from Peoples Natural Gas Field on Friday night. New Hampshire RHP Devereaux Harrison (4-7, 5.02 ERA) is scheduled for his 24th start. Altoona counters with RHP Po-Yu Chen (4-10, 4.24 ERA)

Every Fisher Cats home game is streamed live on MiLB.tv and through the Bally Live App; fans can listen to every Fisher Cats game on the Fisher Cats Radio Network.

Fans can purchase multi-game memberships and single-game tickets at NHFishercats.com, via email at [email protected], by phone at (603) 641-2005, and in-person at the Fisher Cats box office on 1 Line Drive in Manchester.

About the New Hampshire Fisher Cats

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays and play their games at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester. Over 155 former Fisher Cats have reached the Major League level. The Fisher Cats have raised millions of dollars for various charities through the Fisher Cats Foundation and continuously strive to improve the quality of life for Granite State residents. The organization has been recognized as New Hampshire Business Review’s “Best Sporting Event to Take Clients to”, Parenting New Hampshire Magazine’s “New Hampshire’s Favorite Sporting Event for Families”, and New Hampshire Magazine’s “Best New Hampshire Sports Team”. For more information on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, please visit NHFisherCats.com, call (603) 641-2005, or contact Chris Jared via email at [email protected].