Richardson, Escarra HRs Wasted as Patriots Fall To SeaWolves In Series Opener

ERIE, Pa, - The Somerset Patriots fell to the Erie SeaWolves 5-4 on Tuesday night in game one of a six-game series at UPMC Park.

RHP Zach Messinger (6 IP, 5 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K) did not factor into a decision in his 17th outing (15th start) of the season. The Yankees No. 21 prospect ranks among the Eastern League leaders with 97 K (1st), 91 IP (1st), .217 AVG (7th), and 1.15 WHIP (6th). Messinger allowed more than 2 ER in an outing for the first time since 6/21 vs. ERI. He’s now allowed 10 ER over 10.2 IP in two starts vs. the Seawolves this season.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

1B JC Escarra (1-for-4, HR, RBI, R) socked a game tying solo homer in the 6th inning, his fourth long ball of the season. Escarra has reached base in seven straight games and has a hit in six of his last seven contests. Over his seven-game on-base streak, Escarra is batting .269 with 4 XBH, 6 R, and has only struck out once. On the road this season, Escarra owns a .852 OPS with 3 HR and 23 RBI, compared to a .541 OPS with 1 HR and 5 RBI at home.

LF Grant Richardson (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R) put Somerset on the board with a two-run shot in the 3rd inning, marking his fifth home run of the season. Over his last eight games, Richardson is batting .303 with 2 HR, 4 RBI, and 6 R. Richardson tallied his 21st multi-hit game this season, second most on the team. Richardson has recorded six multi-hit games over his last 12 games. He has more multi-hit efforts (21) than single-hit games this season (16).

RF Elijah Dunham (1-for-5, R) extended his season-long hit streak to 16 games, and season-long on-base streak to 20 games. Both streaks are the longest by any Patriot this season. Dunham’s 16 game hit streak is the longest by a Patriot since Austin Wells hit safely in 16 straight games from 7/10/22-8/04/22. Before the hitting streak, Dunham was hitting .233/.344/.411 on the season with Somerset. He’s now slashing .270/.356/.495 in 55 total games with the Patriots. Dunham has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games over the on-base streak over which he’s batting .341/.393/.659 with 5 HR, 18 RBI, 15 XBH, and 15 R since 6/13 @BNG. Against the SeaWolves this season, Dunham is batting .348 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, and a .988 OPS.

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net