HARTFORD, Conn. – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are off to their best start since 2010, earning a 4-1 victory over the Hartford Yard Goats on Saturday night.
For the third straight game, New Hampshire’s first runs came in the third inning, with a Bo Bichette double bringing home Patrick Cantwell and Cavan Biggio.
Hartford responded in the bottom of the third, as Yonathan Daza took a 1-1 pitch off Fisher Cats starter Nick Tepesch into centerfield, letting Ryan Metzler come home.
The Yard Goats negated that run an inning later however, as a pickoff attempt by Hartford hurler went awry, letting Jonathan Davis give New Hampshire their third run of the game.
Another Hartford error in the fifth, this time by Metzler, let Vladimir Guerrero Jr. score the last run of the contest.
Once again, the Fisher Cats offense came through, ending the night with four combined doubles.
And once again, that hitting was accompanied by outstanding pitching. Tepesch (1-0) allowed just three hits and a walk in six innings of work, striking out six Yard Goat batters while the New Hampshire bullpen added another four more while shutting down Hartford the rest of the way.
“Tepesch was outstanding, a typical game for him,” said Fisher Cats manager John Schneider. “The bullpen, which we thought was going to be a strength coming in, did their thing. Timely hitting and really good defense. Usually that’s a good recipe for a win.”
New Hampshire will wrap up their opening series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. as they send out Sean Reid-Foley against Hartford’s Will Carter.