"Force"ful homers propel New Hampshire over Portland

Manchester, New Hampshire – Fans dawned Jedi shirts and waved glowsticks to celebrate Star Wars Night at Delta Dental Stadium on Saturday, and the Fisher Cats channeled The Force to beat Portland. Three home runs powered New Hampshire (8-12, 39-50) to a 5-3 victory over the Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox, 14-6, 44-45).

Orelvis Martinez, Ryan Gold and Addison Barger all hit solo shots in front of 7,242 fans to bring New Hampshire back from a 3-1 deficit to win, 5-3.

In the fourth, Martinez crushed his 20th home run of the season—a solo shot over the left field wall—to bring the Fisher Cats within one, 3-2. The big fly was Martinez’s first in 10 games. He entered Saturday 0 for his last 20 at the plate but finished the night 3-for-4 with two runs, a single, a double and a home run. He has three three-hit games this season.

Ryan Gold bat flipped after his bomb in the seventh inning tied the game at 3-3. He is 6-for-15 (.400) with two homers and four RBIs in his last six games.

Third baseman Addison Barger then belted his second home run in as many days in the eighth inning. Since his promotion from High-A Vancouver, Barger is 13-for-30 (.433).

Starter Adam Kloffenstein gave up a double, single and three-run homer in the second inning but ended the night with one of his best lines of the season. Alex Binelas’ long ball put Portland up, 3-0, and Kloffenstein worked three scoreless innings after that.

The Texas native finished with three earned runs, one walk and a season-high 10 strikeouts. Saturday marked Kloffenstein’s second-highest strikeout total of his professional career, topped only by 11 at Everett on August 10, 2021.

Davis Schneider brought home Orelvis Martinez with a double in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to two, 3-1. New Hampshire then had runners on second and third with no outs, but Portland turned a double play on a lineout to stop the momentum.

New Hampshire outscored Portland, 5-0, from the bottom of the second through the ninth. Andrew Bash (W, 5-3) earned his second win over Portland with 4.0 scoreless innings of relief. The Fisher Cats are now 9-4 when they homer three or more times in a game.

The Fisher Cats conclude their home series with the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) tomorrow, July 24 at 1:35 p.m. Tickets can be found at NHFisherCats.com, via email at [email protected], over the phone at (603) 641-2005, or in-person at the Fisher Cats box office at 1 Line Drive in Manchester.