May 22, 2013
79
Games Today




Van Kirk Homers to End First Half

July 9, 2012 - Eastern League (EL) New Hampshire Fisher Cats

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Brian Van Kirk smacked a solo home run to center field, but the Fisher Cats could not erase an early 4-0 deficit in a 7-1 loss to the New Britain Rock Cats. The loss resulted in their first series defeat since mid-June, and sent the Fisher Cats into the All-Star break with a 36-53 record after 89 games.

For the third straight game, the Rock Cats (50-39) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, netting a pair of run-scoring singles from Evan Bigley and Nate Hanson. An inning later, four straight two-out singles against starter Chad Jenkins (L; 4-8) plated two more runs to build the lead to 4-0.

Jenkins would ultimately throw six innings, allowing two more to score in the fifth inning. He gave up 11 hits - all singles - with five of his runs counting as earned runs. He walked two and struck out one in his final pre-All-Star outing.

Van Kirk struck for his home run in the bottom of the fifth inning in a 6-0 game. With one out, he blasted his fourth home run to straight-away center field to make it a 6-1 contest. The blast was Van Kirk's second at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium and his first overall since May 25 at Binghamton.

Logan Darnell (W; 8-6) earned his eighth win of the season, pitching eight solid innings. He allowed just four singles and the Van Kirk home run. The lefty is now 3-0 against New Hampshire this season after striking out seven with just one walk.

Steve Marek pitched two scoreless in relief of Jenkins while Ronald Uviedo gave up one run in the ninth to cap the scoring at 7-1. Dakota Watts finished off the series in the ninth for New Britain.

The Fisher Cats now take two days off for the Eastern League All-Star Game being held in Reading, Pa. on Wednesday night. Ryan Goins, Mike McDade, Mark Sobolewski, Yohan Pino, and Aaron Loup will represent the Fisher Cats at this year's mid-summer classic.

The quintet of Fisher Cats will join the rest of the team on Thursday night to start a nine-game, seven-day road trip through Portland and New Britain. First pitch Thursday night is at 7 PM against the Sea Dogs. Radio coverage begins at 6:45 PM with Tom Gauthier on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network and www.nhfishercats.com.

The Fisher Cats return on for a four-game series with the Sea Dogs on Thursday, July 19 at 7:05 PM. The series features three nights of Atlas Fireworks and a Glow-in-the-Dark Baseball Giveaway on Sunday, July 22. For tickets and the full list of promotions, visit www.nhfishercats.com.

• Discuss this story on the Eastern League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us


Eastern League Stories from July 9, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.