With a stiff wind towards the outfield, there was a good chance that couple balls would fly out of Hadlock Field. No one expected there to be 7 of them, especially Mitch Dening, who's solo home run in the bottom of the ninth pushed the Sea Dogs to a 10-9 victory over the Binghamton Mets.
The talk before the game was not if there would be a home run, but how many would there be. The Mets hit 4 in the game, with the Sea Dogs tallying 3, but Dening's shot was the difference, as the pitchers in this game would like to forget this one.
Sea Dogs starter Brock Huntzinger put himself in a jam in the first inning, putting runners at the corners. However he got Dusty Ryan to pop out to end the inning.
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Binghamton starter Robert Carson did not escape the bottom of the first so easily. He allowed a lead-off walk to Jeremy Hazelbaker, and then a single to Ryank Khoury. A fly out to deep center by CHih-Hsien Chiang allowed Hazelbaker to advance to 3rd. He would then score as Carson's pickoff attempt of Khoury sailed wide of first, bringing in the game's first run.
Hazelbaker drove in the next run in the second inning, singling to shallow center to drive home Heiker Meneses. Hazelbaker was 1 of 8 players in this game to record multiple hits.
Huntzinger gave up the first home run of the game in the top of the third, as Allan Dykstra bombed a pitch into the 8th row of the pavilion seats in right field with two on and two outs. Huntzinger had struck out 4 straight batters before giving up back to back singles and the home run.
Khoury led off the bottom of the third with a home run that just cleared the wall in center, tying the game at 3-3. It was Khoury's 2nd homer of the year.
Huntzinger gave up solo shots in both the fourth and fifth innings, to Brahiam Maldonado and Matt Den Dekker respectively. Den Dekker would homer again in the seventh inning, with both of them leading off the inning.
Huntzinger was done after 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, with 6 strikeouts. All of the runs he gave up came on home runs.
Portland would push 4 runs across in the sixth inning to take back the lead. Dening led off with a single, and moved to 2nd when Meneses was hit by a pitch. After Hazelbaker struck out, Khoury singled to drive home Dening. Two batters later Will Middlebrooks launched a 3-run home run over the Monster in left, giving the Sea Dogs an 8-6 lead. It was Middlebrook's 12th round-tripper of the year.
After Den Dekker cut the lead to 8-7 in the top of the seventh, the Sea Dogs regained a 2 run advantage as Hazelbaker singled home Jon Hee on a grounder through the left side of the infield.
Blake Maxwell came on in relief in the eighth inning, looking for a 6-out save. he was greeted rather poorly by the Mets. He gave up a lead-off double to Raul Reyes, followed by back to back singles by Maldonado and Eric Campbell to push one run across. Niuman Romero then dropped a sacrifice bunt in front of Maxwell that he threw past Hee, scoring Maldonado and tying the game at 9-9. With the winning run at 3rd Maxwell got a strikeout, flyout, and another strikeout to end the inning.
John Lujan entered the game in the bottom of the inning and struck out the side, giving all the momentum to Binghamton. Maxwell made it interesting again in the ninth, loading the bases on 3 straight one-out singles. He would again escape a jam, getting Campbell to hit a weak flyball and Romero to groundout to keep the game tied.
Jon Hee looked like he might the hero to lead-off the bottom of the ninth. He got good contact on a 3-2 pitch, but landed it shy of the warning track for an out. Then Dening stepped to the plate, and he would erase any doubt as soon as he made contact. The crowd erupted in appreciation of the heroics, and Dening was mobbed by his teammates at home plate after he rounded the bases. With the win, the Sea Dogs took 2 of 3 from the Mets, and ended the homestand on a high note.
Lujan took the loss, his 3rd of the year, after Dening's blast was his only mistake.
Maxwell failed to get the save, but recorded his 2nd win of the season. It was not his finest outing by any means, but he got men out when he needed to.
The teams combined for 19 strikeouts, and 29 hits. The Sea Dogs pitching staff did not allow a walk, and Huntzinger's hit by pitch of Josh Satin was the only free pass.
Each team only had one batter fail to record a hit, as Romero went 0 for 4, and Oscar Tejeda went 0 for 5 for Portland.
With the win the Sea Dogs are now percentage points ahead of the Mets at the bottom of the North Division standings. The Sea Dogs are 38-58, and the Mets 39-59.
The Sea Dogs now head to New Hampshire for a 4-game weekend series against the Fisher Cats. They will then head to Binghamton for a 3-game series before returning home for a 4-game series against Altoona.
POST GAME AUDIO
Sea Dogs Outfielder Mitch Denning
Sea Dogs Manager Kevin Boles
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