Bridgewater, NJ- The Somerset Patriots (22-13) defeated the Bridgeport Bluefish (19-16) 7-2 at TD Bank Ballpark on Friday evening.
Tony Abreu got the Bluefish on the board early with a second inning solo home run (2).
The Patriots took the lead in the bottom of the third inning on a home run by Chris Grayson (1) and an RBI double by Aharon Eggleston for a 2-1 advantage.
“He was dialed in a little bit and making some good pitches,” said Grayson. “He fell behind and I was just looking for something up, really for a pitcher’s mistake. He left a changeup up. I wasn’t looking to do too much, but I hit it hard and thankfully it went out of the park.”
Carlos Guzman then extended the Patriots lead with a two-run single in the fifth inning that made the score 4-1.
“I was just trying to get something up that I could get in the air somewhere. He threw me a fastball I could handle and I put a good swing on it,” Guzman said.
Bridgeport got their second run in sixth inning on an RBI double by Sean Burroughs to cut the lead in half.
The Patriots plated three more runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by a two-run single by Yovan Gonzalez, to put the game away at 7-2.
Mitch Atkins (3-3) picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits and eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched. Tyler Badamo (1-2) took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in five innings pitched.
The 2017 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue at home on Saturday night with a 7:05 pm game against the Bridgeport Bluefish. The game features a Post Game Fireworks Show. For tickets, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.