Fisher Cats’ bullpen effort falls short

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (22-44, 52-82) were blanked by the Somerset Patriots (41-24, 73-61) at TD Bank Ballpark on Friday night in a 3-0 final. The Fisher Cats bullpen tossed 8 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

New Hampshire brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the eighth and ninth but stranded two runners on base in each frame.

Cats starter Abdiel Mendoza (L, 8-12) allowed three runs, one of which was earned, on three hits. Mendoza recorded one out but exited the contest in the bottom of the first after taking a ground ball off his left foot. A bullpen game ensued, and New Hampshire’s bunch excelled.

Right-handers Nick Fraze, Adrian Hernandez and Ryan Jennings combined to blank Somerset for the remainder of the contest. Fraze tossed 3 2/3 after coming out of the bullpen cold, Hernandez’s three scoreless frames tied a single-game season high in innings pitched, and Jennings’s fastball touched 97 miles per hour in his eighth inning.

The New Hampshire offense managed two hits against Somerset starter Zach Messinger (W, 7-8) in six innings. Patriot bullpen arms Ryan Anderson, Luis Pacheco and Jesus Liranzo (S, 3) finished off the contest.

Eddinson Paulino had two of New Hampshire’s four hits Friday night; Paulino has four hits over his last nine at-bats. Josh Rivera put the pressure on Somerset’s Liranzo in the ninth with a two-out double.