For second straight night, Yard Goats come from behind to earn the win

Hartford’s Yonathan Daza had two doubles, drove in two runs and made a great defensive catch in center field in the ninth inning to help the surging Yard Goats beat Portland Friday night.

HARTFORD, May 4 – The Yard Goats continue to come from behind to win. For the second consecutive night, Hartford rallied for an exciting late-inning victory.

Hartford’s Yonathan Daza had two doubles, two RBI, scored a pair of runs and made a spectacular catch in the ninth inning as the Yard Goats beat the Portland Sea Dogs, 5-4, in an Eastern League game at Dunkin’ Donuts Park before the largest crowd of the season (6,850 fans).

The Yard Goats erased three deficits to earn a one-run victory on Thursday night, too, here in Hartford.

Last night, Hartford broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning.  With two outs and the bases empty, Portland starter Mike Shawaryn walked Hartford’s Omar Carrizales and Ryan Metzler, before reliever Jordan Weems surrendered a run-scoring single to right field by Wes Rogers.

Hartford’s starting pitcher Jack Wynkoop earned his first victory of the season. He pitched six innings, gave up four runs and seven hits. He struck out a season-high five batters and walked just one.

Marc Magliaro pitched a scoreless seventh inning, before Logan Cozart came on to register a two-inning save.  The right handed pitcher electrified the crowd by striking out the side in the eighth and throwing a scoreless ninth.  He was helped by Daza, who made a diving catch into the stands down the left field foul line, on a foul ball hit by Danny Mars.

Cozart earned his first save at the Double A level with his strong performance and the Yard Goats improved to 15-12 with their ninth straight win at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. They are three games over the .500 mark for the first time this year.

The Yard Goats scored three runs in the fifth inning against starter Mike Shawaryn. Metzler and Rogers opened the inning with singles.  The red-hot hitting Daza knocked in both runners with a double to left and later scored the tying run on a throwing error by shortstop Jeremy Rivera.

Daza had two hits, two RBI and two runs scored to lead Hartford.  Rodgers and Rogers each had two hits and an RBI.   Cole Strugeon had three hits and Mars two doubles and an RBI for the Red Sox affiliate, who played before the Dave Dombrowski, president of Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox, for a second straight night.  Portland (7-16) has lost three straight.

Hartford 5, Portland 4
at Hartford
Portland (7-16)                003  100  000  — 4-8-1
Hartford (15-12)             100  031  00x  – 5-8-0
Shawaryn, Weems (6) and Rei; Wynkoop, Maglino (7), Cozart (8) and Nunez; WP: Wynkoop (1-1); LP: Shawaryn (1-3); H: Maglino (1); Save: Cozart (1)

Yard Goats 5, Sea Dogs 4
HARTFORD, May 3 – The Yard Goats erased three deficits to beat the Portland Sea Dogs, 5-4 Thursday night. Yonathan Daza had two doubles and one RBI, Ryan Metzler slugged a big home run, Sam Hilliard had a big RBI single to spark the Hartford offense.

The bullpen was sharp as the Yard Goats (14-12) beat Portland for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings. Reliever Scott Griggs picked up his second win, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings while closer Matt Pierpont pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his league-leading eighth save.

Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Yard Goats sent eight men to the plate and scored three runs to take a 5-4 lead.

Metzler led off the inning with a single and scored from first on Chris Rabago’s double into the left field corner.  After Rabago stole third base – his second steal of the game – Garrett Hampson walked and following a strike out, Hartford tied it on second baseman Tony Renda’s throwing error.  Hilliard then knocked in Hampson with a single to right field to give the Yard Goats the lead for good.

Hartford 5, Portland 4
At Hartford
Portland (7-15)              010  011  100  — 4-9-1
Hartford (14-12)            000  110  30x  — 5-9-1
Lakins, T. Stankiewicz (4) and Nunez; French, Horacek (5), Griggs (7), Pierpont (9) and Rabago; WP: Griggs (2-0), LP: Stankiewicz (1-4); Save: Pierpont 8