Record-setting Yard Goats top Binghamton to snap five-game losing streak

Hartford’s Brian Mundell drove in two runs as the Yard Goats snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Binghamton.

HARTFORD, August 29 – Drew Weeks slugged a pinch-hit, three-run homer and Jesus Tinoco turned in a quality start to lift the Hartford Yard Goats to a 6-2 Eastern League win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies Wednesday night, before a capacity crowd of 6,850 at Dunkin’ Donuts Park.  The win snapped the Yard Goats’ five-game losing streak.

Hartford became the first pro baseball franchise in Connecticut history to surpass the 400,000 mark in season’s attendance with its 46th sellout.  With one home game remaining, the Yard Goats have drawn 402,092 fans.

Binghamton took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI-double by Will Toffey, but the Yard Goats tied it in their half of the first on a run-scoring single by Hartford’s Brian Mundell.

Joey Terdoslavich slugged an upper deck home run to right-center in the fourth to put Binghamton on top 2-1, but the Yard Goats rallied to take the lead for good in the sixth inning against starting and losing pitcher Justin Dunn, who pitched at the Gunnery School, a private school in Washington Depot, Connecticut.

After the first two batters reached on walks and executed a double steal, Mundell delivered a sacrifice fly and Sam Hilliard followed with a run-scoring single.

Hartford (61-71) added three insurance runs in the eighth inning, when Weeks blasted his homer off of reliever Joe Zanghi of Milford.  After reliever Mitch Horacek pitched out of a seventh inning jam and retired all four batters he faced, Guilford’s Craig Schlitter closed out the game for the Yard Goats, pitching a scoreless ninth.

Tinoco improved to 8-12 with the victory.  He allowed two runs on five hits in six innings, walked one and struck out five.  In suffering the defeat, Dunn (6-5) gave up three runs on five hits in six innings, with three walks and seven strike outs.

In addition to Weeks’ three-run shot, Mundell had two RBI and Ryan Metlzer two hits to pace Hartford’s offense.  The Yard Goats stole six bases.  Toffee had two hits and an RBI for Binghamton.

The final home game of the 2018 season is Thursday night against Binghamton beginning at 7 p.m.