PORTLAND, Maine — The New Hampshire Fisher Cats led wire-to-wire and took the series finale over the Portland Sea Dogs with an 11-4 Eastern League win in front of a sellout crowd Friday night at Hadlock Field.
New Hampshire sent all nine men to the plate in the first inning against Portland starter Heri Quevedo (0-5) and scored three runs on three hits and three walks, including a two-run homer from Ryan Schimpf.
The Fisher Cats added three more in the second on two more hits and two more walks, with Pierce Rankin delivering a two-out, two run single and Kevin Nolan later scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 6-0.
Quevedo lasted just 1 ⅔ innings and allowed six earned runs on five hits, walking five and striking out one.
The Sea Dogs put up a two spot in the fourth inning off of Fisher Cats’ starter Casey Lawrence 6-8) thanks to a two-out, two-run double from Keury De La Cruz to cut the deficit to 6-2.
Portland added a run in the fifth on an RBI single from Sam Travis and brought the tying run to the plate later in the inning, but Manuel Margot flied out to center with the bases loaded to end the threat.
Schimpf would go long again with a solo shot in the seventh inning off of Miguel Celestino and became the franchise leader for the Fisher Cats with 56 career home runs.