Yard Goats Win Fifth in a Row to Take Over First Place

Yard Goats Win Fifth in a Row to Take Over First Place

WP- William Herring (1-1)

LP- Jaden Woods (1-2)

S- Carlos Torres (3)

Hartford, CT- The Hartford Yard Goats scored a run in the eighth inning en-route to a 4-3 victory over the Altoona Curve on Tuesday night at Dunkin’ Park. Aidan Longwell singled home Andy Perez with two outs putting the Yard Goats in front for good. It was Hartford’s fifth straight win and seventh in eight games. The victory moved the Yard Goats into first place in the Northeast Division. Eiberson Castellano was solid in six innings and the bullpen of Andrew Baker, Griffin Herring, and Carlos Torres closed out the game.

The Curve got on the board first in the top of the second inning when Ivan Brethowr hit a sacrifice fly off Yard Goats starter Eiberson Castellano, bringing home Titus Dumitru to give Altoona a 1-0 lead. Altoona extended its lead in the top of the fourth when Will Taylor lined an RBI single that brought home Omar Alfonzo. Later in the inning, catcher Bryant Betancourt picked off Taylor on the bases to end the threat.

Hartford threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Andy Perez and Roc Riggio each singled on hard-hit line drives to center field, but Perez was thrown out attempting to steal third base. Braylen Wimmer took advantage of a throwing error by third baseman Javier Rivas and advanced to scoring position.

Benny Montgomery drove in two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, tying the game at 2-2 after a fielding error by Lonnie White Jr. allowed Wimmer to score. White Jr. then overthrew the ball out of play, enabling Montgomery to advance and bring home the tying run.

Dyan Jorge sparked Hartford again in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double before moving to third on Andy Perez’s sacrifice bunt. Roc Riggio followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Jorge and giving the Yard Goats their first lead of the night at 3-2.

Altoona responded in the top of the seventh when Duce Gourson delivered an RBI single that scored Taylor and tied the game at 3-3.

Hartford regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning after Andy Perez stole second base and later scored on an infield hit by Aidan Longwell, putting the Yard Goats ahead 4-3. In the ninth inning, Carlos Torres induced a double play ground ball to Perez, who fired to first for the final out as the Yard Goats secured the victory and moved to first place.

The Yard Goats will continue their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate and will play on Wednesday at 7:10 PM. Join us as the Hartford Rock Cats take the field at Dunkin’ Park! RHP Jake Brooks will take the mound for Hartford and LHP Connor Wietgrefe will pitch for Altoona. The game will be televised on Milb.TV, Bally Live, and broadcast on the free Audacy app.