Somerset Patriots continues winning ways against Fisher Cats

Baseball, Professional, Somerset Patriots

August 25, 2022

On Wednesday night, the Somerset Patriots continued their series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at home. They won 3-2 to improve to 71-44 on the season behind Devi Garcia's outstanding outing. Many fans were in attendance for Fireworks Night at TD Bank Ballpark. The Patriots played a clean baseball game against New Hampshire, which helped them pick up the win.

Garcia was lights out for the Patriots as he went 6 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, two runs, one walk, and ten strikeouts to pick up the win. Matt Minnick finished the game for the Patriots, allowing only one walk and striking out three over 2 2/3 innings. Garcia located his pitches, pounded the strike zone and worked the outside corners well. He allowed back-to-back home runs by Will Robertson and Trevor Schwecke in the top of the fifth inning, which was the only tough inning for him on the night.

Garcia has Major League experience with the Yankees, but the concerns were always about his command and consistency. He has worked hard as he looks to get back to the big club. Against the Fisher Cats, he showed what he could be at that level for the Yankees in the future.

The Somerset Patriots' offense had some struggles but was able to get timely hits by Austin Wells and Andres Chaparro in the bottom of the sixth inning to get the win. Wells has been heating up as of late, as he is not chasing as many pitches and is making good contact on his swings. He drove in two runs, which was huge in a low-scoring game with few opportunities to bring in runs.

Jersey Sporting News spoke to Wells, the top Yankees catcher prospect. He talked about Garcia's strong performance last night.

"It's the second ten strikeout game he caught from him in the last three weeks, I think, " Wells said. "He has been lights out the last couple of outings. Every time we have been able to work together, he has been great. He is really fun to catch and very dominant on the mound, and he does a really good job."

Wells also talked about playing with Giancarlo Stanton this week and what he learned from him during Staton's rehab stint.

"He was awesome," Wells said about Stanton. "Great with us, taught us a lot about his approach, what he is trying to do each and every day. It was great having him up in Bowie. We had a great time. He showed what it is like to be a pro. At that level, he has been playing for a long time. It was cool being around him."