Rumble Ponies Fall Late to Hartford on Thursday

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (1-1, 36-35) gave up their one-run lead in the eighth inning and fell to the Hartford Yard Goats 5-4 on Thursday night at Mirabito Stadium.

Up 4-3 in the eighth inning Kyle Datres belted a go-ahead two-run home run to left field to give Hartford (1-1, 30-39) a 5-4 lead.

The game began as a pitcher’s duel between Dom Hamel and Joe Rock. Hamel tied his season highs with nine strikeouts and six innings pitched. He allowed three runs over six innings, on an RBI single from Jack Blomgren in the fifth and Yonquiel Fernandez’s two-run homer in the sixth.

Rock struck out 12 batters, which tied Hartford’s franchise record for a single game. He struck out 11 hitters over four scoreless frames before Binghamton got to him in the sixth.

Down 3-0 in the sixth inning, Wyatt Young walked and later scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 3-1. Brandon McIlwain popped into a sacrifice fly to drive in Branden Fryman, which made it 3-2. Agustin Ruiz then belted a no-doubt go-ahead two-run homer to right field, which gave Binghamton a 4-3 lead.

With Binghamton leading 4-3 in the eighth, Datres hit his seventh homer of the season, giving Hartford a 5-4 lead.

Hartford had three relievers –– Michael Peterson, Evan Justice, and Dugan Darnell –– combine to throw three perfect innings to cement the win.

The Rumble Ponies will continue their series with the Yard Goats on Friday night. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM and pregame coverage gets underway at 6:50 PM on the WNBF Rumble Ponies Radio Network.

Postgame Notes: The Ponies scored four runs on two hits in the sixth inning…Hamel twirled a season-high six innings for the second-straight start and third time in his last four starts…Fryman extended his hitting streak to seven games.