Yard Goats Use Momentum to Carry Them to a Win

On Sunday afternoon, Hartford’s very own minor league double-a baseball team the Yard Goats, took the field against the Reading Fightin Phils at the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts Park. In the final game of a five-game series against the Reading, the Yard Goats looked to bounce back from dropping two of the last three games to the Fightin Phils.

In the first inning of the game, Reading came across the plate for the first run with a Wendell Rijos home run. They kept the momentum going in the second inning as infielder Kevin Vicuña smashes a solo shot to give Reading a 2-0 lead early on. Fightin Phils’ star pitcher, Mick Abel, was a menace on the mound as he worked five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.

The Yard Goats would trail the entire game up until the seventh inning where the bats were hot, and they couldn’t be stopped. Abel could only do so much for the Phils, when the bullpen took over, the Yard Goats took full advantage. Hartford started the momentum off by loading the bases. Tyler Hill singled to put the Goats on the board. Julio Carreras stepped up to the plate and jacked a 2 RBI double, giving Hartford a 3-2 lead. Hunter Stoval would cap off the scoring to make it 4-2. The scoring would stop there for both teams giving the Yard Goats the win and allowing them to take four out of the six games against the Fightin Phils.

Hartford moves on to 72-53 on the season, and will stay home for their final homestand of the season against the Somerset Patriots on Tuesday night.