Bees Ride Big Fourth to Sweep
New Britain, Connecticut – The New Britain Bees (27-26, 62-60) tallied five runs in the fourth inning to beat the Somerset Patriots (19-35, 61-63) 7-4 at New Britain Stadium on Thursday night.
Scott Kelly began the contest with a bang, hitting a double off the wall in left field. Alfredo Rodriguez, the next batter, hit Kelly in with an RBI single to left. Two batters later Jimmy Paredes plated Rodriguez with a sacrifice fly to push Somerset ahead 2-0.
The Bees responded with a pair of runs in the third. Rando Moreno hit a lead off double and was hit in by a Darren Ford RBI single. Then, Ryan Jackson added an RBI double to knot the score at two.
Rey Navarro (5) powered a solo home run to right field to jump the Patriots ahead by a run in the top of the fourth. But, in the bottom of the inning the Bees scored five runs on five hits. The first six batters of the inning reached base highlighted by a Moreno RBI bloop single, a Ford RBI single and a bases clearing three-RBI double from Jackson.
Trailing 7-3 in the seventh, the Patriots plated a run thanks to four straight walks from Sammy Gervacio. Brandon Fry relieved Gervacio and limited the damage to just one run after he entered with the bases loaded and no outs in the inning.
Somerset failed to score over the final two frames and New Britain finished the series sweep.
Devin Burke (3-5) earned the win after he pitched six innings and allowed three runs.
Tyler Cloyd (0-3) took the loss after he gave up seven runs in four innings.
Grant Black (S,1) earned the save pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
The 2019 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford continues at TD Bank Ballpark on Friday, September 6th against the High Point Rockers. The night will feature a postgame fireworks show, presented by Celularity. For tickets, stop by the box office located at TD Bank Ballpark, call (908) 252-0700, or visit www.somersetpatriots.com.