MANCHESTER, N.H. – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats avoided a sweep at the hands of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies thanks to a 8-3 victory on Saturday night.
New Hampshire got on the board quickly thanks to Gabriel Moreno’s first inning home run followed by Samad Taylor’s home run in the fourth. Taylor would add another homer to highlight a five-run eighth inning for the ‘Cats.
Along with Taylor’s two hits, Otto Lopez also had two hits. Reggie Pruitt also added a double for New Hampshire.
New signing Johnny Barbato went 5 1/3 innings starting for New Hampshire, giving up two earned runs off six hits and a pair of walks. Curtis Taylor (2-1) ultimately earned the win, seeing New Hampshire’s lead evaporate in the sixth thanks to a Jordan Groshans error but then holding on until the Fisher Cats’ rally. Taylor and Andrew McInvale held the Rumble Ponies hitless over the rest of the contest, adding six strikeouts to Barbato’s five.
Oscar De La Cruz was on the hook for the loss, his first since demotion from Triple-A in mid-May.
New Hampshire (10-18) snapped its five-game losing streak with Saturday’s result. Meanwhile, Binghamton (8-20) dropped its first game of June after equaling their win total from all of May over the first four games of the series with New Hampshire.
The series concludes on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled at 1:35, with Kyle Johnston (0-1, 2.95 ERA) pitching for New Hampshire against Binghamton’s Tony Dibrell (1-1, 3.26 ERA).