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MANCHESTER, NH – Grey skies couldn’t stop the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Saturday as they grabbed their first home win of the 2018 season, a 5-2 victory over the Hartford Yard Goats.
New Hampshire’s first runs came in the third during a three-run rally that saw seven men come up to the plate.
That inning would be the last for Hartford starting pitcher Peter Lambert, but the Fisher Cats
New Hampshire starting pitcher Sean Reid-Foley didn’t allow any hits until Mylz Jones’ base hit with one out in the sixth. Reid-Foley would lose the shutout later in the inning as Yonathan Daza’s groundball single brought Jones across the plate.
The Yard Goats nearly added another run in the sixth off Ryan Metzler’s line drive to right field, but a strong throw to the plate by Andrew Guillotte would limit the damage.
That second Hartford run would have to wait until the seventh, as a leadoff double by Brian Mundell set the stage for a line drive single two batters later, scoring Mundell and chasing Reid-Foley from the contest.
Cavan Biggio drew a four-pitch bases loaded walk to bring home Lourdes Gurriel Jr. half an inning later, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also adding a run before Hartford could retire the side.
Guerrero and Patrick Cantwell each grabbed two hits each for the Fisher Cats while Conor Panas went 3-for-4 on the day.
Reid-Foley (2-0) threw 50 of his 75 pitches for strikes in recording the win, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out three. Conor Fisk recorded eight outs in relief of Reid-Foley to earn his second save of the year.
Lambert’s early difficulties left him with the loss, bringing him to 0-1 on the year.
The two teams meet again on Sunday for a 1:35 p.m. start.
Jon Harris (1-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the mound for New Hampshire against Hartford’s Parker French (0-1, 3.00 ERA)