EL1 New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Late Rally Not Enough in Fisher Cats 6-5 Loss

Published on July 2, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (47-34) rallied for three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, but it was not enough as the New Britain Rock Cats (24-57) came away with the 6-5 victory Friday night at Merchantsauto.com Stadium.

Eric Thames (3 for 4, two runs, RBI) set the tempo with a leadoff home run in the eighth to get the home team back to 6-2. The blast marked Thames' team-high 13th of the season. David Cooper (2 for 5, run, RBI) came up next, and belted a triple, setting up a Danny Perales (2 for 5, 2 runs, RBI) RBI single two batter's later. Perales would make it 6-4, moving station to station from a HBP, a walk and a fielding.

In the bottom of the ninth, Thames led off with a walk, and touched them all on a double by Cooper. The Fisher Cats had the tying run on third with one out when Jonathan Diaz sacrificed Cooper over on a risky 2-2 count, but a strikeout and a fly to right closed the door for New Hampshire, and gave Billy Bullock his third save of the year. The Fisher Cats ended the night stranding 14 batters on base, three shy of the franchise record they set on May 5 against the same Rock Cats.

For the fifth time in as many nights the visiting team got on the scoreboard first. After starter Randy Boone (2-3, 3.45) struck out the leadoff hitter Joe Benson swinging to start the game, Chris Cates got things started by lacing one through the middle for a single. Chris Parmelee followed with a ground-rule double, which was called dead after rattling around in the home bullpen. Clean-up hitter Eric Lis then produced the first run by singling to right, scoring Cates and sending Parmelee to third.

Two batters later, Parmelee got around a sweep tag by catcher Brian Jeroloman to make it 2-0. On the play, Steve Singleton lined a ball to centerfield where Darin Mastroianni came in for the ball and one-hopped a throw to home. The throw was down the line, but Jeroloman made the adjustment, and his flailing tag was called safe as Parmelee sprinted past.

Boone allowed one more run in the top of the second to make it 3-0. Again, the first hitter struck out, which brought up Yancarlos Ortiz, who singled to left and eventually came around to score after stealing second and a throwing error by third baseman Jonathan Diaz.

The Fisher Cats had their own opportunities early, but still had a mountain to climb after chipping away in the bottom of the second. Perales hit a one-out triple that found the same bullpen chairs down the right-field line. Then after some miscommunication on a 1-3 put out on a bunt attempt, Jeroloman (1 for 3, RBI) picked up his teammates with a RBI single to center to bring the score to 3-1.

Boone ended his night early, only throwing three innings after 70 pitches. The starter, who just came off the disabled list today, gave up three runs, two of which were earned, on five hits while striking out three.

Vince Bongiovanni came in to support his starter, and performed efficiently in his first three innings, retiring nine of his first 10 batters in 28 pitches. The 6-5 righty got into some trouble in the top of the seventh, loading the bases on a single and back-to-back walks before giving way to 6-8 Trystan Magnuson with one out. A fielder's choice hit in David Cooper's direction traded an out for a run, but the big blow came off the bat of Juan Portes, who found the right-center gap to clear the bases, and open the game to 6-1. Bongiovanni's line quickly changed to 3.1 I.P., giving up three runs on two hits and two walks.

New Britain starter David Bromberg (5-4, 3.47) put up a quality start to record the victory. He went six innings, giving up a lone run, while scattering six hits and striking out three.

On Saturday night, Rey Gonzalez makes his 2010 debut for the Fisher Cats, and will be opposed by right-hander Carlos Gutierrez (3-6, 4.91) of New Britain in the third of four games this series. Fisher Cats Pre-Game begins at 6:45 p.m. on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network with Bob Lipman.

An Atlas Fireworks Show follows the game Saturday night. Fans will also be playing USA Subs Baseball Bingo. For tickets, call (603) 641-2005 or visit www.nhfishercats.com.

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics

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



Eastern League Stories from July 2, 2010


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