Yard Goats Get Help From Rockies & Blank Somerset 4-0
Bridgewater, NJ- The Colorado Rockies sent two Major League veteran pitchers to join the Yard Goats as Jose Quintana and Kyle Freeland combined for five scoreless innings, and Connor Staine worked the final four, leading the Yard Goats to a 4-0 shutout over the Somerset Patriots on Wednesday night at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The Yard Goats scored a run in the first inning, and it was a 1-0 game going to the eighth. Hartford’s win combined with Reading’s win reduced its magic number to one to clinch the second half. The Yard Goats will play a best-of-three playoff series against the winner of the second half.
Quintana started and pitched the first two innings before handing things over to Rockies teammate Freeland who struck out five straight and earned the win. New Jersey native Connor Staine took over in the sixth inning and retired 12 of 16 batters faced in four scoreless frames.
Roynier Hernandez had three hits and drove in two runs and Jared Thomas had a hit, RBI and scored helping Hartford to its seventh win in 11 games.
The Yard Goats scored the first run of the game in the first inning against Somerset starter Dom Hamel. Jared Thomas was hit by a pitch and advanced to third base on a double by Jacob Humphrey. Thomas scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Braylen Wimmer as he slid underneath the tag of catcher Omar Alfonzo on the throw home.
Jose Quintana set the tone for the pitching staff, firing two scoreless innings. Freeland came in to start the fourth and walked the first batter, and then retired the final eight men he faced while recording five strikeouts over the next three frames. The lefty, who pitched the first game in Yard Goats history back in 2016, fanned five consecutive batters, including the side in the fourth inning. Connor Staine finished the game, pitching four scoreless innings to earn the save.
It was a 1-0 game going to the eighth inning when the Yard Goats added a pair of runs against the Somerset bullpen. Braylen Wimmer doubled and Roynier Hernandez cracked a single scoring Jacob Humphrey and Wimmer to give Hartford a 3-0 lead. Jared Thomas added an RBI single in the ninth, scoring GJ Hill to make it 4-0.
The Yard Goats continue the six-game road trip against the Somerset Patriots on Thursday night (6:35 PM). The game will be broadcast on the free Audacy App, iHeartRadio app, Yard Goats website and streamed on MiLB.TV. WTIC AM 1080 will join the game in progress at 8:00 PM. The Yard Goats will host Game Two of the ELDS next Thursday, September 17th (6:30 PM) at Dunkin’ Park.