A sloppy seventh inning by Portland defense broke a 3-3 tie, and the Altoona Curve pulled away for a 7-4 win. Eammon Portice took the loss in relief, as he faded in his third inning of work after striking out 4 of the first 5 batters he faced.
The Curve took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning. Andrew Lambo hit a lead-off double, moved to 3rd on a Tony Sanchez ground out, and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Quincy Latimore. Sea Dogs starter Michael Lee then struck out back to back batters to end the inning.
The Sea Dogs answered in the bottom of the inning, in turn taking their first lead of the game. Mark Wagner doubled in his first game at Hadlock in two years. He then moved to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by Jon Hee. Oscar Tejeda then drove him home with an RBI single. With Jeremy Hazelbaker batting, Tejeda was caught stealing 2nd, as he has been much more aggressive in the base path in recent weeks. Hazelbaker then doubled to the gap on a play in which Tejeda would have easily scored. Heiker Meneses followed up with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Hazelbaker and giving the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead.
Altoona tied the game up in the top of the third. Brock Holt hit a liner to left-center that Hazelbaker dove for, but it bounced off his glove for a stand-up double. Two batters later, Lambo singled home Holt to make it 2-2.
The Sea Dogs would pull ahead again in the bottom of the inning, as Alex Hassan led of with a double. He would score three batters later when Wagner reached on a throwing error by 3B Yunesky Solarte.
The Curve would again tie the score as Lee ran out of gas in the fifth. He gave up back to back singles to Yunesky Sanchez and Anthony Norman with no outs. After striking out Starling Marte he gave up an RBI single to Holt to end his outing. Portice came in and struck out Josh Rodriguez and Lambo to end the inning.
Portice was locked in in the sixth inning. After getting Tony Sanchez to hit a routine grounder to short, he struck out Matt Curry and Latimore, giving him 4 strikeouts out of 5 batters faced. After getting Yunesky Sanchez to strike out to lead off the seventh, the wheels came off for Portice and the Sea Dog defense. Anthony Norman reached on a fielding error by Meneses at short. Marte then legged out an infield single, beating the throw to first by 3B Will Middlebrooks. Holt drew a full count, and on what looked like should have been a called 3rd strike, Wagner threw to 3rd to gun down Norman. Except it was called ball four, and the bases were loaded. Rodriguez then hit a grounder to 3rd, and Middlebrooks threw it to 2nd hoping for a double play, rather then trying to get Norman out at home. The Sea Dogs could only get out Holt at 2nd, making it 4-3 with runners at the corners. Then With Lambo at bat, Wagner threw to 1st, trying to get Rodriguez in a run down. Hee threw back to home on the double steal attempt, and threw it wide of Wagner, scoring Marte. Portice got Lambo to strike out swinging, mercifully ending a nightmare inning for the Sea Dogs.
It didn't get any better for Portice in the eighth inning. He walked Tony Sanchez on 4 pitches to lead off the inning. Curry then drilled a fly ball off the top of the outfield wall in center for a 2-run home run, his 5th of the year. Cesar Cabral came in to relieve Portice, and retired the next 3 batters to end any further damage.
The Sea Dogs managed to get a run in the bottom of the eighth, digging into the lead they gave to Altoona. Hassan reached base leading off, as his grounder went through the legs of Curve SS Rodriguez. Chih-Hsien Chiang then bounced a grounder off Rodriguez' shoulder for a single that moved Hassan to 3rd. Middlebrooks then stepped to the plate with runners at the corners and no out...and hit into a double play. Hassan scored to make it 7-4, but it killed what could have been a momentum-swinging rally. Wagner weakly popped out to 3rd to end the inning.
Dening almost brought back the magic he had in the Sea Dogs last home game, when he hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth against Binghamton last week. After Altoona closer Michael Dubee got 2 quick outs, Hazelbaker walked. Meneses then singled to center on a full count to put men at 1st and 3rd. Dening also ran the count full, and got solid contact on the 3-2 pitch. however, there was no gust of wind out to center this time around, as Marte got under the fly ball at the warning track for the final out.
The loss was Portice's 6th of the season, as he allowed 4 runs (2 earner) in 2 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 6 and walked 2 and gave up his 9th home run of the season. He does lead all Sea Dogs relievers in strikeouts, with 58.
Matt McSwain picked up the win in relief for Altoona. He threw 2 hitless innings with 1 strikeout and no walks. He is now 2-0 out of the bullpen.
Dubee pitched a tense ninth inning for his 6th save of the year. He lowered his ERA to 2.39, the lowest on the club.
Hassan was one of the lone bright spots for the Portland offense. he went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, and picked up his 26th and 27th doubles of the year. That total is 2nd on the team, behind only Chiang, who has 35.
Wagner's double was his first extra base hit since returning to the Sea Dogs. The Catcher played in Portland in 2008 and 2009 before making it all the way to AAA in 2009. After playing in Pawtucket for parts of two seasons before being designated for assignment in Red Sox spring training this spring. Wagner was once thought to be an heir-apparent to Jason Varitek in the Red Sox system.
The teams will be back at it for game 2 of a 4-game series with Altoona tomorrow night at 7pm. This is the only time Altoona will come to Portland this season.
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