Fisher Cats seventh-inning rally secures Thursday victory

READING, Penn. – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats got some late offense for the second night in a row on Thursday night, but this time that offense was enough for the win.

New Hampshire evened up their series with the Reading Fightin’ Phils on Thursday, earning a 9-2 win.

Both teams struggled to hit their groove early,  New Hampshire got a run on the board in the second when Will Robertson crossed the plate and Oliver Dunn hit a two-run homer in the fourth to wrest the lead away.

Miguel Hiraldo’s second home run of the season tied things up in the sixth and in the wheels came off for Reading in the seventh.

There, New Hampshire batted around the order, with Orelvis Martinez, Sebastian Espino and Damiano Palmegiani each collecting home runs in what would become a six-run rally.

Martinez added another blast in the eighth to put him at seven home runs on the year, good enough for fourth place in the Eastern League at the conclusion of the day’s contests around the league.

In addition to the five home runs, New Hampshire also received extra-base hits in the form of a triple from Robertson and a double from Berroa.

On the mound, New Hampshire pitchers combined to allow just three hits on the night while striking out 13 Reading batters, putting them in a tie for third in the league with Akron at 279 so far this season.

Adam Kloffenstein certainly pitched well enough for the win, striking out seven against just one hit in his five-inning start.

Instead, the run support from Hiraldo gave Luis Quinones the win, putting him at 3-0 on the year after his work in the sixth and seventh.

New Hampshire (15-14) has a 6:45 p.m. start on Friday, sending Sem Robberse (0-2, 3.64 ERA) to the mound against Mick Abel (2-1, 2.53 ERA).