MANCHESTER, NH — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (21-43, 52-81) to the Somerset Patriots (40-24,72-61) at TD Bank Ballpark on Wednesday night, 8-2. Fisher Cats lefty Adam Macko returned for his first Double-A start since July 2.
The Patriots and Fisher Cats began Wednesday’s game with a moment of silence in remembrance of the lives lost from the attacks our country endured on September 11, 2001. Throughout the game, both squads honored first responders and active and former members of the military with rousing rounds of applause.
New Hampshire lefty and Blue Jays No. 9 prospect Macko (L, 5-5) returned for his first Double-A start since July 2. Macko made it through four innings and allowed six runs total. He struck out four straight Patriots from the end of the first through the second.
The Patriots offense jumped on Macko in the bottom of the first. The first four batters Macko faced reached base. Spencer Jones scored on a Tyler Hardman single; Anthony Seigler drove in Rafael Flores; Hardman scored on a wild pitch; Jared Wegner plated Seigler to give the home club a 4-0 advantage. Macko capped his first inning with his first punchout of the night, which began a streak of eight consecutive Somerset batters retired consecutively.
The southpaw starter then tallied three swinging strikeouts in the second and faced the minimum in the third. A walk and a single ended the streak to begin the bottom of the fourth; Somerset’s Max Burt’s two-run single moved the Patriots’ advantage to 6-0 through Macko’s four innings.
The Fisher Cats scored their first runs in the top of the fifth inning. New Hampshire shortstop Josh Rivera was plunked by a pitch from Dees to begin the fifth inning. With two outs, Ryan McCarty singled and third baseman Charles McAdoo brought both Rivera and McCarty in with his seventh triple of the season and his second with New Hampshire. McAdoo’s triple-bagger cut Somerset’s advantage to 6-2.
New Hampshire reliever Hunter Gregory struck out a pair of batters in two scoreless innings. Ryan Boyer returned from the 7-day injured list with a scoreless seventh. Andrew Bechtold allowed two runs in the eighth.