MANCHESTER, NH — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (13-23, 43-61) were trounced by the Erie SeaWolves (22-16, 60-45) at Delta Dental Stadium, 19-1. The SeaWolves hit four home runs in the first four innings and five in the game.
Right-hander Abdiel Mendoza (L, 6-8) lasted three innings in his fifth Double-A start this season. He allowed three hits, all of which left the field of play. Erie tacked six runs on Mendoza, five of which were earned. Erie’s Garrett Burhenn (W, 5-1) fired five scoreless innings and struck out seven to keep the lid on New Hampshire’s offense.
New Hampshire’s Nick Fraze allowed a three-run triple and a solo homer in the fourth. Ryan Jennings tossed a scoreless fifth before Ian Churchill gave up four runs in the sixth. Right-hander Nate Garkow cooled the SeaWolves bats with two innings of scoreless relief and posted a pair of strikeouts.
SeaWolves second baseman Gage Workman hit three home runs and drove in seven. Austin Murr and Chris Meyers also cleared the fences for Erie. Carlos Mendoza and Ben Malgeri both knocked bases-clearing triples in the rubber match.
The SeaWolves grabbed the Sunday lead in the top of the first inning from New Hampshire. Erie’s Mendoza reached on a fielding error in the first at-bat of the game before a two-run blast from Gage Workman to give the SeaWolves a 2-0 lead.
A barrage of runs ensued for the visiting SeaWolves with four runs in the third, five in the fourth and four more in the sixth to balloon the lead from 2-0 to 15-0. Murr and Workman each homered to highlight the four-run third. Mendoza’s two-run triple and a solo home run from Meyers extended Erie’s lead to 11-0 after four innings. SeaWolves third baseman Luis Santana singled in a run and another Erie two-run triple, this time by Malgeri, capped the second four-run inning to bolster a 15-0 SeaWolves lead.