The SeaWolves were again silenced on Saturday night, suffering a wire-to-wire loss to the Harrisburg Senators, 8-1. Harrisburg lifted a pair of two-run home runs early in the game, and continued to torment the Erie bullpen in the back half as Erie lost their second straight contest.
Jesus Rodriguez was again plagued by constant contact in his start for Erie. The right-hander gave up a prompt two-run home run to Aldrem Corredor in the first inning, instantly sealing the loss. After Erie had cut the two-run lead in half, Rodriguez (L, 2-4) let up another two-run home run, this time to Jacob Rhinesmith in the third inning. Harrisburg nearly added another run in the fifth inning when Armond Upshaw opened with a triple, but he was thrown out by Kerry Carpenter while trying to score on a line out.
The Erie bullpen continued to struggle, starting in the seventh inning when Gerson Moreno allowed an unearned run on an error by Carpenter in left field. Harrisburg struck Ruben Garcia for a pair of runs when Gilbert Lara doubled in the eighth inning, and Garcia walked three batters, including one with the bases loaded in the ninth. Erie needed to turn to catcher Jon Rosoff to finish the night on the mound, and Rosoff worked a groundout against the only batter he faced to strand the bases loaded in the ninth inning. It was the first time this season that Erie had used a position player to pitch, and it was Rosoff’s second career pitching appearance. The Erie bullpen has allowed at least one run in each of their last eight full innings pitched.
For a brief moment, Erie looked as if they might be able to rally from the early deficit. Brady Policelli smoked a solo home run onto the arena in left field to make it a one-run game, but Erie was shut down by Jackson Tetreault for the rest of the night. Tetreault (W, 5-2) collected seven punchouts over six innings, and only allowed one base runner to reach third base after the home run. Two relievers, Carlos Navas and Reid Schaller, combined to strike out seven more batters over the final three innings of scoreless work for Harrisburg.
Erie and Harrisburg will conclude their series on Sunday afternoon at UPMC Park, as the two sides meet for the final time in 2021. Erie has already won the season series against Harrisburg, but need a win on Sunday to avoid splitting the six-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.