Sea Dogs drop 5th straight in 5-3 loss to Trenton

For the fourth straight the Portland Sea Dogs brought the tying run to the plate late in the game.  For the fourth straight game, the Sea Dogs wound up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.  Portland came up just shy once again, this time in a 5-3 loss to the Trenton Thunder.  Chih-Hsien Chiang hit his first home run of the year, but it wasn't enough as Che-Hsuan Lin was robbed of a base hit by Ray Kruml with two runners on base to end the game.

The Thunder jumped out to a 4-1 lead against Sea Dogs starting pitcher Brock Huntzinger (2-3).  Addison Maruszak had a pair of RBI singles.  Corban Joseph drove in another run and scored two for Trenton.  Three of the Thunder runs ended up as unearned runs.  Both runs scored off Huntzinger in the fourth and a run off Jeremy Kehrt in the fifth were not credited to the pitchers.

After that Portland's bullpen shut down the Trenton offense.  Kehrt and Eammon Portice combined for perfect innings in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.  However, the Thunder relievers were just as solid.  Tim Norton and Brian Anderson combined to allow one baserunner over three innings, before yielding to Fernando Hernandez.  The Trenton closer got the first two hitters out before running into trouble.  Jorge Padron reached on an infield single, his third hit of the night, and Chiang walked before Kruml's spectacular diving catch on Lin.

Portland has now lost four straight, a season-long run for the Sea Dogs.  The team has been close in every game, with no loss coming by more than three runs.  On the season, 11 of Portland's 13 losses have come by three runs or less.  Also, seven of their eight road losses have been by a margin of three or less.

The Sea Dogs and Thunder will meet in the second of the four-game series tomorrow morning.  It's a special 10:35 AM first pitch from Trenton.  Alex Wilson gets the start for Portland opposite Steve Garrison of Trenton.  The Sea Dogs return home for a three-game series with the New Britain Rock Cats starting May 6.  That night will be a Fireworks night sponsored by U.S Cellular.  Sunday, May 8th will be Portland's annual Mother's Day 5K Road Race.  For tickets or road race registration information, log on to www.seadogs.com or call 207-879-9500.
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