Walk-off wild pitch hands Fisher Cats third straight loss
PORTLAND, M.E — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, fell to the Portland Sea Dogs 4-3 on Friday night from Hadlock Field in 11 innings on a walk-off wild pitch. Portland leads the series three games to none. After pitching a scoreless 10th
PORTLAND, M.E — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, fell to the Portland Sea Dogs 4-3 on Friday night from Hadlock Field in 11 innings on a walk-off wild pitch. Portland leads the series three games to none.
After pitching a scoreless 10th and stranding the winning runs on base, right-handed reliever Gabriel Ponce (2-1) came back out in the 11th to try and keep the game tied.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 11th, a wild pitch from Ponce brought home Corey Rosier to hand New Hampshire (20-21) its third straight defeat this week to Portland (29-13).
New Hampshire led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth but a Ceddanne Rafaela game-tying solo home run with one out off right-hander Connor Cooke forced extra innings. The Fisher Cats failed to bring home runs in the 10th and 11th, leaving the door open for Portland to eventually win the game.
Starting pitcher Chad Dallas made his second Double-A start and pitched five innings, allowing one run on four hits with no walks while striking out four in a no-decision. The right-hander still holds an ERA of 0.00 since the run allowed was unearned.
Left-hander Mason Fluharty made his Double-A debut since being called up from High-A Vancouver earlier this week and threw two innings of relief, allowing one run, three hits and no walks while striking out two.
Run scoring singles by Sebastian Espino and Steward Berroa gave New Hampshire a 2-0 lead in the second off Portland starter Brian Van Belle. Espino has collected a hit now in 10 of 15 games in the month of May while Berroa extended his on-base streak to 14 consecutive games with a pair of hits.
The Fisher Cats continue their six-game road trip against the Portland Sea Dogs tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 pm. LHP Jimmy Robbins (1-4, 5.94 ERA) and RHP Paxton Schultz (1-3, 3.96 ERA) will get the starts for New Hampshire against LHP Brendan Nail (1-1, 0.87 ERA) and LHP Rio Gomez (2-1, 3.00 ERA) for Portland.
The next home stand for the Fisher Cats begins Tuesday, May 30 against the Reading Fightin’ Phils. Promotions include Common Man for Ukraine Night and a Fisher Cats Hat Giveaway Thursday, Military Appreciation Night Friday, 603 Night Saturday sponsored by WorkReady N-H with postgame AutoFair Fireworks and an Adult T-Shirt Giveaway Sunday, courtesy of Fidium Fiber with Kids Run the Bases postgame, sponsored by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission Division of Enforcement.
Tickets are available 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.