By Stephen Ur
Portland Sea Dogs 7, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 5
Philip Sikes and Tyler McDonough homered in the third and fourth inning respectively and the Sea Dogs built a 4-0 lead. It was 7-1 in the seventh inning when Matt Rudick hit a grand slam to close the gap to 7-5.
The Rumble Ponies wouldn’t be able to complete their comeback, however, and Portland started 2023 with a win. Garrett Whitlock, who started Opening Day for the WooSox, also earned the win for Portland, striking out eight and allowing just one run in six innings pitched.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 8, Altoona Curve 5
The Fisher Cats scored their first three runs in the top of the second when Luis De Los Santos hit a three-run double to left field. They added four more in the top of the sixth inning, which included another double by De Los Santos that allowed two more runs to score.
The scored a run to close it to 7-2, but Damiano Palmegiani was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing another run to score to make it an 8-2 game. New Hampshire was able to close out the victory despite allowing a walk and a hit with two outs.
Bowie Baysox 8, Hartford Yard Goats 0
Bowie’s Heston Kjerstad hit a home run in the top of the fourth for the game’s first run, then hit an RBI single to break the game open in a six-run sixth inning in Hartford.
The Yard Goats were unable to get anything done and dropped their first game of 2023.
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