Rabago Delivers for Surging Yard Goats
April 23, 2018 - Eastern League (EL1)
Hartford Yard Goats News Release
HARTFORD - Chris Rabago's single down the left field line scored Ryan Metzler with one out in the last of the 11th inning to lift the surging Hartford Yard Goats to a 4-3 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs Monday night. Hartford's season-high fourth straight win (8-9) came before 3,056 at Dunkin' Donuts Park. The Yard Goats have also won five straight at home and eight of 11 overall. Hartford won the game under the new extra inning rule, when an inning starts with a runner at second base.
Rabago's clutch hit capped a big night for the Hartford backstop, who is on the Colorado Rockies 40-man roster. Earlier in the game, Rabago gave the Goats a 2-0 lead with an RBI-bloop double.Â
Logan Cozart earned his first Double-A victory, pitching two innings of relief. He was the sixth pitcher used by the Yard Goats, who received a stellar outing from starter Jack Wynkoop. The Hartford southpaw turned in his longest outing of the season with six innings of one run baseball. He scattered five hits and did not walk a batter, striking out three.
Hartford jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Garrett Hampson extended his hitting streak to eight games with a lead off double to left field, advanced to third on a single by Yonathan Daza and came home on a sacrifice fly to deep right center by Brendan Rodgers. Cole Sturgeon robbed Rodgers of a hit, as he made a spectacular catch against the wall. Earlier in the day Rodgers was named Eastern League Player of the Week, batting .520 (13-25), including Sunday's 5-for-5 performance.
Portland got on the board in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Austin Rei and tied it in the ninth on another sacrifice fly by Tate Matheny, the son of St. Louis Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny.
That sent the came into extra innings under the new rule. After Portland (6-10) scored a run in the 10th, the Yard Goats tied it in their half on Rodgers' second sacrifice fly of the game. And once again Sturgeon made a spectacular catch, robbing the Rockies' top prospect with a running catch against the 392-foot mark in center field.
Daza helped the Hartford offense with three hits, while Rabago had two hits and two RBI and Metzler collected two hits and two runs scored. Rodgers had a hit and two RBI.
The Yard Goats host game two of the three-game set against the Boston Red Sox affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs, Tuesday night at 7:05. RHP Ryan Castellani will pitch for the Yard Goats against RHP Teddy Stankiewicz for Portland. The game will be broadcast on Vantage Sportsnet, AM 1410 WPOP and streamed on newsradio.1410.com and MiLB.com.
Portland 3-8-2 Hartford 4-9-0
WP- Logan Cozart (1-1) LP- Trevor Kelley (0-1)
T- 3:20 A- 3,056
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