Cats Rock Tazawa, Dogs Lose 15-5

Junichi Tazawa did not have the start he was looking for (Photo Jeff Schools/MESN)

Pitching in Portland for the first time since 2009, there were many eyes on Sea Dogs starter Junichi Tazawa. Those eyes were quickly disappointed, as Tazawa was rocked, failing to make it out of the first inning. New Britain scored 8 runs in the first inning, and easily cruised to a 15-5 win in the opener of a 4-game series.

Tazawa looked nothing like the pitcher we saw in '09, when he starred for Portland and even had 4 starts with the Red Sox. A friendly floating curve doomed the righty, as he gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and hit a batter, giving up 6 runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Reliever Miguel Gonzalez finished off the inning, but not before giving up 2 runs of his own. In all, 12 Rock Cat batters stepped to the plate in the first, making it very improbable for a Sea Dogs victory before they even got to swing the bat.

The Rock Cats would make sure the game was out of reach in the second inning, showing Gonzalez no mercy. Five of the first six batters of the inning recorded hits for New Britain, piling on 5 more runs to the lopsided score.

Chih-Hsien Chiang gave the home crowd something to cheer about in the bottom half of the inning, blasting a home run over the wall in right field. It was Chiang's 13th round-tripper of the year.

New Britain would score a single run in the fifth inning, this time off of Jeremy Kehrt. Brian Dozier led off with a single to right, and would score three batters later when Nate Hanson grounded into a double play. It was one of three double plays that the Sea Dogs induced in the losing effort.

Portland would score again in the sixth inning. Tim Federowicz singled off the monster with one out, then would move to second when Jon Hee singled up the middle two batters later. Federowicz would score on Jorge Padron's single, as Portland finally made Rock Cats starter Steve Hirschfeld look mortal.

New Britain's offense came to life again in the seventh, as the first four batters reached. Three runners crossed the plate in the inning, making it an astounding 15 runs for the Rock Cats.

Federowicz led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run over the monster, giving him 6 on the season. Ryan Khoury hit his first home run of the year, a 2-run monster shot in the ninth. Khoury's bomb nearly made it through the hole in the Sullivan Tire sign atop the wall, but fell just short.

Tazawa took the loss in his first Double-A start of the season. In just 2/3 of an inning, he gave up 6 runs on 3 hits, with 2 walks and a strikeout. He also had a hit batsman and a wild pitch among his 37 pitches.

Gonzalez lasted 2 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs on 10 hits, with no walks or strikeouts.

Kehrt was the ironman for the Sea Dogs, lasting 6 innings in relief to help save the Portland bullpen. He gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits, with 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. He threw 80 pitches, with 52 for strikes.

Hirschfeld picked up the win, improving his record to 5-4. In 6 innings, he gave up 2 runs on 7 hits, with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. He threw 63 strikes on 98 pitches.

Every New Britain starter got a hit, as Chris Parmalee's 7th inning single rounded out the hit parade. Every starter crossed the plate at least once, and clean-up hitter Evan Bigley was the only one not to drive in a run.

The Sea Dogs did get a home run off every New Britain pitcher, showing some power to please the roughly 4,000 fans in attendance.

The game was televised by NESN, as the Sox had an off day to make the long (sarcastic) trek from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.

Sox owner John Henry was in attendance, and even took time to shake fans' hands for about half an hour at the gate.

The teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 6pm. Alex Wilson and Chris Balcom-Miller will take the mound for the Sea Dogs.