Sánchez Makes Team-Leading 17th Start Saturday in Akron
EL New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Sánchez Makes Team-Leading 17th Start Saturday in Akron

Published on August 23, 2025 under Eastern League (EL)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (20-28, 49-68) and Akron RubberDucks (26-23, 69-48) meet for the fifth game of their six-game series starting at 6:05 PM EDT on Saturday night. Akron has won two games in a row to tie the series at two games to two.

LAST NIGHT

The Fisher Cats dropped their second game of the series to the RubberDucks on Friday night, 7-3. New Hampshire went hitless across the last four innings as Akron scored four unanswered runs and split the series, two games to two.

Offensively, the Fisher Cats were led by Charles McAdoo, who posted his first three-hit game of the season and collected three of New Hampshire's eight base hits.

New Hampshire's Dasan Brown gave the Fisher Cats an early 1-0 lead on a two-out single in the top of the first inning. Je'Von Ward doubled to lead off the third and scored on McAdoo's second hit of the game to make it 3-2, Akron. The Fisher Cats salvaged one run after loading the bases with one out in the top of the fourth inning on a Jackson Hornung groundout.

Starter Grant Rogers (L, 6-7) went five innings and allowed five runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. It was the 11th straight start that Rogers was able to complete at least five innings.

PITCHING MATCHUP

New Hampshire's Rafael Sánchez (2-7, 5.27 ERA) makes his team-leading 17th start of the season on Saturday night. Sánchez is coming off his second scoreless start of the month after firing five blank frames and allowing two hits in Binghamton on August 17. Sánchez collected six punchouts with no walks and one hit-by-pitch in the Fisher Cats' 3-2 win over Binghamton in extras. Ther righty out of Antilla, Cuba, fired New Hampshire's fourth no-hitter in franchise history against Altoona on June 7. it was Sánchez's third complete game for New Hampshire since joining the Fisher Cats on July 30, 2024. His first complete game was in his Double-A debut on August 4, 2024, in Binghamton, where Sánchez surrendered four hits and struck out five over seven innings pitched. His second was on April 25 against the Rumble Ponies in a two-hit, six-inning performance at Morabito Stadium. The 26-year-old was signed by Toronto on May 13, 2022, and started his Blue Jays tenure less than a month later in the Dominican Summer League. By the end of the year, Sánchez was with Single-A Dunedin and would split time between Dunedin and High-A Vancouver in 2023. Sánchez has spent the majority of his minor league career in Vancouver with 33 total appearances and Saturday will be his 27th career outing for the Fisher Cats.

The RubberDucks trot Rorik Maltrud (2-3, 4.47 ERA) for his 16th start of the season. Maltrud has logged just 46-1/3 innings pitched this season due to a right forearm strain that sidelined him from May 28 to June 27. The righty has gradually worked his way back into the Ducks' rotation by going four-plus innings in his last two starts. Since June 27, Maltrud had not eclipsed the three-inning mark until August 7 against Chesapeake when he allowed two runs in four innings. His last time out was on August 13 in Reading, where Maltrud surrendered one run on two hits over 4-1/3 frames. Maltrud was dominant across his three starts in May by going 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 12-1/3 innings pitched and while allowing one run and six hits. The Guardians inked Maltrud in January of 2024 at the age of 23. Maltrud made 24 total appearances, 12 with Single-A Lynchburg and 12 for High-A Lake County, in his first professional season in 2024. The Atlanta, Georgia, product has collected 51 strikeouts to 25 walks since breaking camp with Double-A Akron in 2025.

THIS DAY IN FISHER CATS HISTORY

August 23, 2010 - Kyle Drabek went seven scoreless innings for his 14th win, and the Fisher Cats won 6-0 at Trenton. Drabek struck out nine, allowing only a pair of singles. Eric Thames hit his 25th homer in the third inning and Adam Loewen smacked a two-run shot, his 13th in the sixth. With the win, the Fisher Cats improved to 73-54, closing to within 2-1/2 games of the first-place Thunder.

WHAT'S NEXT?

New Hampshire and Akron round out their six-game series with a 1:05 PM EDT first pitch on Sunday afternoon. The RubberDucks send former New Hampshire hurler Khal Stephen (0-0, 9.00 ERA) to the hill for his first start in the Guardians organization. Stephen started one game for the Fisher Cats before being dealt to Cleveland on July 29 for right-handed pitcher Shane Bieber, who made his Blue Jays debut on August 22. New Hampshire's Sunday starter is to be determined.

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics

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



Eastern League Stories from August 23, 2025


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