SOMERSET, N.J. – An epic bullpen implosion transformed what was shaping up to be a solid win into a blowout loss as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats opened up their series against the Somerset Patriots with a 17-9 defeat on Tuesday.
Fisher Cat relievers Adrian Hernandez, Jol Conception and Gabriel Ponce combined to allow 11 earned runs in the eighth and ninth in a slugfest that saw both teams combine for 25 hits. Somerset’s late runs negated a six-run fourth inning for the ‘Cats that was punctuated by Steward Berroa’s theft of home plate on a double steal and Miguel Hiraldo’s two-RBI homer.
Berroa joined Dylan Rock, Trevor Schwecke, Damiano Palmegiani, and Luis De Los Santos in the Fisher Cats’ multi-hit club for Tuesday.
The Fisher Cats drop to 5-5 on the year with the loss. Ricky Tiedemann (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second Eastern League start of the year on Wednesday against Somerset’s Richard Fitts (0-1, 8.31 ERA)