Yard Goats Late Rally Falls Short in 4-3 Loss

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — A late-inning rally brought the Hartford Yard Goats within striking distance, but the Somerset Patriots held on for a 4-3 victory on Friday evening at TD Bank Ballpark.

Trailing 4-0 heading into the eighth, Hartford mounted a fierce comeback against the Somerset bullpen before ultimately stranding the tying and go-ahead runs in the ninth.

Somerset set the tone early thanks to Jace Avina, who launched a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first off Yard Goats starter Konner Eaton to take a 1-0 lead. The Yankees affiliate doubled their advantage in the third frame when Roderick Arias lifted a sacrifice fly to score Avina, who had led off the inning with a double.

The Patriots padded their cushion in the fourth as Cole Gabrielson clubbed his sixth home run of the season—a two-run shot over the left-field wall—to make it a 4-0 game. Eaton settled down to retire the side in order in the fifth to wrap up his outing.

Meanwhile, Somerset starter Bryce Cunningham put on a pitching clinic. The right-hander surrendered an infield single to Jared Thomas, the first batter of the game, before setting down 14 consecutive Yard Goats. Cunningham breezed through seven scoreless innings, permitting just two hits before handing the ball to the bullpen with a four-run cushion.

Hartford finally broke through in the eighth against reliever Kelly Austin. Jack O’Dowd sparked the rally with a leadoff single, setting the stage for Jimmy Obertop, who crushed a two-run homer over the left-field fence to cut the deficit to 4-2. Skyler Messinger followed with a single, but Austin struck out the next three batters to limit the damage.

The Yard Goats made things interesting in the ninth against Harrison Cohen. Braylen Wimmer drew a leadoff walk, Zach Kokoska singled, and Dyan Jorge reached on a fielder's choice and an error to load the bases with nobody out. O’Dowd lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Wimmer and make it a 4-3 game.

During the next at-bat, Jorge swiped second base—marking his team-record 55th stolen base of the season—to put runners at second and third with just one out. However, Cohen bore down and struck out the final two batters of the night to slam the door on Hartford's comeback attempt.

O’Dowd led the Yard Goats' offense, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Up Next

The Yard Goats continue their six-game road trip against the Somerset Patriots on Saturday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 PM.

• Pitching Matchup: LHP Stu Flesland III gets the start for Hartford against Somerset RHP Cade Smith.

• How to Listen/Watch: Catch the radio broadcast on the free Audacy App, iHeartRadio app, and the official Yard Goats website, or stream the game live on MiLB.TV.

Hartford plays two more games in New Jersey to wrap up the regular season before kicking off the Eastern League Division Series (ELDS) on Tuesday, September 15th in Reading, PA. The Yard Goats will return home to host Game Two of the ELDS next Thursday, September 17th (6:30 PM) at Dunkin’ Park.