Rojas, Houck Set for Fourth of July Duel

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EL New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Rojas, Houck Set for Fourth of July Duel

July 4, 2025 - Eastern League (EL)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (3-6, 32-46) and the Portland Sea Dogs (3-6, 37-39) square off for an Independence Day bout at Hadlock Field at 6:20 PM EDT on Friday night. Toronto No. 8 prospect Kendry Rojas (MLB Pipeline) makes his Double-A debut and will square off with Tanner Houck (MLB Rehab), who will make his fourth rehab appearance and first with the Sea Dogs.

LAST TIME OUT

New Hampshire won its second consecutive game against the Portland Sea Dogs on Thursday night, 7-5. Peyton Williams brought in Jace Bohrofen with a double in the bottom of the seventh inning as the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Cats held on for to take two games in a row for the first time since taking two from Reading on June 10 and 11.

Portland jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Charles McAdoo crushed a two-run homer for the second game in a row to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning. With his seventh homer of the year, McAdoo extended his on-base streak to 24 games.

Fisher Cats reliever Grayson Thurman (W, 1-1) collected his first career Double-A win by striking out both batters he faced in the top of the seventh inning. Rafael Sánchez collected his first save in professional baseball by recording the final six outs of the game.

New Hampshire matched a franchise record seven stolen bases in seven attempts, with Dasan Brown swiping three bags for the fourth time in his career.

The Fisher Cats played in front of a season-high 6,583 fans at Delta Dental Stadium, capped off with the Independence Day Fireworks celebration on Thursday night.

PITCHING MATCHUP

New Hampshire's Rojas (0-0, -.-- ERA) is set to make his Double-A debut against the Sea Dogs on Thursday night. The left-hander was called up to New Hampshire on July 1, after appearing in four games with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Rojas tossed 13 scoreless and allowed five hits with 18 strikeouts for the Jays. He started the year on the seven-day injured list with an abdominal injury and was sent to the Florida Complex League for his rehab assignment on May 30. Rojas made two starts for the FCL Blue Jays before continuing his assignment with Single-A Dunedin on June 11. Last time out, Rojas fired five no-hit innings with nine strikeouts and two walks against the Pirates' Single-A affiliate, Bradenton Marauders on June 27. The Blue Jays' No. 8 prospect was dominant with 15 whiffs on 27 swings for a 56% whiff rate and topped out at 97.1 MPH. Rojas became the fourth Dunedin pitcher to fan nine-plus batters in a game this season, joining Trey Yesavage, Khal Stephen and Gilberto Batista. The Ciego de Ávila, Cuba native was signed by Toronto in October 2020 and started his professional baseball career in the FCL, where he collected 39 strikeouts and walked five batters across 23-2/3 innings of work. Rojas has 262 career strikeouts in 229 innings pitched, with a 3.10 earned run average in 60 minor league baseball games.

The Sea Dogs send Houck to the mound for his fourth rehab appearance and first with Portland this year. Houck struggled through his first three rehab stints with Worcester, where he gave up 12 hits and nine earned runs in 6-1/3 innings. In his most recent start with Worcester, Houck tossed 65 pitches and allowed four earned runs on 7 hits in 3-2/3 innings of work against the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The Red Sox placed Houck on the 15-day injured list on May 13 with a right flexor pronator strain. The 2017 first-rounder returns to Hadlock Field for the first time since 2019, when he went 8-6 with a 4.25 earned run average across 17 outings for the Sea Dogs. Houck joined Worcester in July 2019 and finished the season with a 3.24 earned run average in 16 appearances in his first trip to Triple-A. He went on to make his major league debut for the Red Sox on September 15, 2020.

THIS DAY IN FISHER CATS HISTORY

July 4, 2010- In the Fisher Cats' 5-0 win over the New Britain Rock Cats, pitcher Kyle Drabek threw a no-hitter. It's still the only time in team history that a starter has gone all nine to record the no-hitter. He issued a pair of walks, striking out three. The team scored three in the first inning to take an early lead for Drabek.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Fisher Cats and Sea Dogs continue their three-game series at Hadlock Field with a 6:00 PM EDT first pitch on Saturday night. New Hampshire's Juaron Watts-Brown (1-2, 3.06 ERA) gets the start for the Cats, and right-hander Hunter Dobbins (MLB Rehab) will start for the Sea Dogs.

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics



Eastern League Stories from July 4, 2025


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