EL1 New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Fisher Cats late-inning comeback bid comes up short in 9th inning

Published on August 14, 2008 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


Manchester, NH- Kyle Phillips belted a three-run first inning home run, Andrew Pinckney homered to lead off the third inning and Jacob Butler added a two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Harrisburg Senators rallied back from an early 5-0 deficit and held off a late comeback by the New Hampshire Fisher Cats for a wild 13-11 victory before a crowd of 5,936 Thursday night at Merchantsauto.com Stadium.

New Hampshire (55-71) set the tone in the bottom of the first inning by scoring five runs against Zack Segovia, who only lasted 2/3 of an inning. Phillips (1-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R) ripped a three-run home run, his eighth, staking the Fisher Cats to a 3-0 lead. Brian Dopirak (1-for-5, 2B, R) then doubled, Pinckney reached on a catcher's interference call and a throwing error on third baseman Ofilio Castro allowed Jacob Butler (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R) to get aboard, loading the bases. Chris Gutierrez (3-for-5, 2 RBI, R) slapped a single to center, driving in Dopirak and Pinckney for a 5-0 lead.

Harrisburg (68-58) roared back to take the lead in the top of the third inning. Seth Bynum (1-for-6, RBI, R), Marvin Lowrance (1-for-4, BB, RBI, R) and Bill Rhinehart (2-for-4, 2B, BB, RBI, R) all had RBI singles off losing pitcher Brandon Magee before Garrett Guzman (1-for-4, BB, GS, 4 RBI, 2 R) smashed a grand slam home run, his eighth, for an 8-0 lead. The Senators tacked on a ninth run when Edgardo Baez (2-for-5, 3 R) reached on a Gutierrez error and later scored on a wild pitch from Orlando Roman that made it 9-5 Harrisburg.

Magee (6-12) yielded eight runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings, giving up seven hits. The right-hander struck out four and walked three.

Pinckney led off the bottom of the third inning with a solo shot, his ninth, off the videoboard in right-centerfield, drawing the Fisher Cats to within 9-6.

The Senators increased their lead with four runs against Roman in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run double by Ian Desmond (3-for-5, 2B, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R) and a two-run single by Marco Yepez (1-for-4, BB, 2 RBI) off Jo Matumoto, with the inherited runs charged to Roman for a 13-6 lead.

Erik Kratz (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R) made it 13-7 with an RBI infield single in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring Butler (double).

Kratz added an RBI double off Josh Perrault in the eighth inning, allowing Gutierrez (single) to score. David Smith (2-for-4, RBI, BB) followed with a sharp single up the middle, plating Kratz for a 13-9 score.

Facing Adam Carr in the bottom of the ninth inning, Pinckney doubled and Butler cracked his 15th home run, cutting the Fisher Cats' deficit to 13-11. Carr rebounded to get Kratz on a lineout and Ryan Patterson (0-for-5, BB, R) on a come-backer to give Harrisburg a split of the four-game series.

New Hampshire bids farewell to Harrisburg and welcomes Altoona to Merchantsauto.com Stadium for the weekend. On Friday night at 7:05pm, the Fisher Cats send right-hander Robert Ray (6-4, 3.01) to the mound in search of his team-leading seventh victory against Curve left-hander Kyle Bloom (3-7, 4.73). Radio coverage begins at 6:45pm on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network with Bob Lipman and Mike Murphy.

The first 1,000 kids in attendance on Friday night at Merchantsauto.com Stadium receive a FREE NAPA Auto Parts/Fisher Cats Soccer Ball. For tickets, visit www.nhfishercats.com or call (603) 641-2005.

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from August 14, 2008


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.

OurSports Central