Aaron Schunk had three hits and Michael Toglia and Jimmy Herron hit solo home runs to lead the Hartford Yard Goats to within one win of clinching the Eastern League Northeast Division first-half championship and a playoff spot with a 5-2 win over the Somerset Patriots on Friday night.
The first-place Yard Goats lead second-place Somerset by a game and a win in one of the next two games gives Hartford the title.
Hartford (43-24) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on an RBI double by Brenton Doyle and a Kyle Datres sacrifice fly. Herron homered in the fifth, Datres had an RBI double in the sixth and Toglia homered in the eighth, his 14th, to account for the Yard Goats’ runs.
Michael Baird (1-1) started and went 6 2/3 innings for the win.
