Sea Dogs Out-FOXed by Senators 4-1

For the second night in a row the Sea Dogs starting pitcher had a solid outing. For the second night in a row that pitcher earned little run support in a losing effort. For the second night in a row the Harrisburg Senators beat the Sea Dogs 4-1. Adam Fox drove in all 4 runs and Daniel Rosenbaum dominated for 7 innings for Harrisburg.

Matt Rusch's second start of the season for Portland was much better than his first. After giving up 6 runs in 5 1/3 innings in his debut after being acquired from the independent leagues, the righty adjusted to the Double-A game. Three straight hits from the Senators in the second inning was the only real blemish for Rusch, but that was enough to give Harrisburg a lead they would never surrender. Archie Gilbert and Fox sandwiched singles around Tim Pahuta's double, with Fox's single driving in the first 2 runners.

The Sea Dogs would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the second. Reynaldo Rodriguez doubled on a dropping liner past LF Gilbert to lead off the inning. He would move to 2nd when Mark Wagner flied out to right. He would then score on a wild pitch with Dan Butler to give Portland its only run of the game in a most unconventional of ways.

Rosenbaum was both efficient and filthy in his 7 innings of work. He didn't allow multiple base runners until the seventh, when Alex Hassan and Rodriguez had back to back singles to lead off the inning. Rosenbaum would get out of the jam as expected, getting a fly out and a line out before setting Mitch Dening down swinging for his 8th and final strikeout.

Fox would strike again off Michael Lee in the top of the seventh inning. He smacked a 2-run home run just over the leaping arm of Jeremy Hazelbaker in center field. It was only his 4th home run of the season, and his 4 RBIs increased his season total to 19.


Rosenbaum improved to 3-0 in 4 starts in Double-A. His ERA dropped slightly to 1.37, as he has shown no signs of growing pains yet.

Hassan Pena pitched a scoreless ninth for his 8th save of the year. He allowed a lead-off single to Oscar Tejeda and had a strikeout.

Rusch pitched 6 solid innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 1, but a pitch count of 103 after 6 innings did him in.

The two teams face off in the series finale tomorrow at noon. Jeremy Kehrt takes the mound for the Sea Dogs and will face former major leaguer Oliver Perez for Harrisburg.

Pahuta Powers Senators Past Portland 4-1

Harrisburg starter Tanner Rourk had a no-hitter going against the Sea Dogs into the sixth inning before Ryan Khoury and Jeremy Hazelbaker hit back to back doubles to end the bid and give Portland the lead. The Senators tied the game up in the eighth inning off Sea Dogs reliever Blake Maxwell, then took the lead for good on a 3-run home run by Tim Pahuta later in the inning as Harrisburg won 4-1.

Roark made it through the Portland lineup twice without allowing a hit, and a walk to Alex Hassan and a hit by pitch to Jon Hee were his only blemishes. Then Khoury stepped to the plate with two outs and laced the Sea Dogs first hit over the 3rd baseman's head for a double. Jeremy Hazelbaker then hit a fly ball towards the left-field foul pole that dropped fair then bounced into the stands for an RBI ground rule double. Roark went from no-hitter to losing pitcher of record in two batters.

The reason Harrisburg couldn't score for most of the game was the outstanding pitching of Chris Balcolm-Miller. The righty scattered 7 hits over a season-high 7 innings, and didn't allow a walk until his second to last batter. Just to keep the theme going, Balcolm-Miller struck out 7 batters, all of them on a swinging third strike.

Balcolm-Miller's quality outing was wasted quickly in the top of the eighth, when Blake Maxwell continued his late-season fall. The first batter he faced, Josh Johnson, chopped a ball right towards him, and he threw it well past 1st baseman Jon Hee and into the stands, bringing Johnson to 2nd. Derek Norris then dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Johnson to 3rd. Tyler Moore then singled up the middle to tie the game 1-1. After Maxwell walked a batter and struck out a batter, Pahuta smashed his 10th home run of the season into the pavilion seats in right field to give Harrisburg a 4-1 lead. Maxwell then gave up another single before getting Chris McConnell to ironically ground out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Corey VanAllen and Rafael Martin each took a turn making Sea Dog batters look foolish in the eighth and ninth innings to close out the game. Martin struck out the side in the ninth for his 12th save of the year.

VanAllen picked up the win, his 4th of the year. he finished off the seventh inning for Roark by getting Mitch Dening to strike out looking.

Maxwell picked up his 5th blown save of the year, and his record fell to 3-4.

Eammon Portice pitched an efficient ninth inning, getting 3 quick outs on 5 pitches, 4 for strikes.

Game 2 of the 3-game series is tomorrow at 6pm. Matt Rusch will be making his 2nd appearance of the season for Portland, and will be looking for his first win.

Wednesday's series finale will be at noon, with former major league pitcher Oliver Perez starting for Harrisburg.

Mets Give Extra Effort in Win Over Dogs

The fans got their money's worth as the Binghamton Mets beat the Sea Dogs 6-4 in extra innings in the Futures at Fenway game. Alex Hassan sent the game into extra innings with a game-tying 2-run home run in the 8th inning to make it 2-2. The Mets took hold of the lead again in the 11th and never looked back, as Kai Gronauer's 3-run home run off the light tower atop the monster highlighted a 4-run inning. Jon Hee made it interesting in the bottom of the inning, lining a 2-run single into right-center to cut the lead to 2, but Mitch Dening was called out on strikes to end the game.

The game started off as a pitcher's duel, as Portland's Charlie Haeger and Binghamton's Collin McHugh each posted shutouts through 6 innings. Haeger nearly made it out of the seventh inning before Binghamton jumped on the scoreboard. Haeger had Gronauer down 0-2 with 2 outs in the seventh before the Sea Dogs defense turned on him. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base, and Brahiam Maldonado then scored as catcher Dan Butler threw the ball into the outfield. Jon Malo then singled to score Allan Dykstra, making it 2-0. Josh Fields then came on in relief of Haeger and got Matt Den Dekker to strike out to end the inning.

Fields pitched well in relief, not allowing a run, while striking out 2 and walking 1.

Hassan brought the hallowed grounds to life in the eighth, driving a 3-2 fastball to dead center for his 11th home run of the year to tie the game. He was 3 for 4 on the game with an intentional walk and a line-out to left in the first that nearly dropped for a hit. For his effort, Hassan brought his batting average back up over .300 to .302.

Reliever Chris Martin made his Sea Dogs debut in the tenth inning. He ran into trouble quickly, giving up a lead-off double to Malo. Den Dekker then dropped down a sac bunt to move Malo to 3rd with only 1 out in the inning. Michael Fisher then hit a fly ball to shallow center that Jeremy Hazelbaker had to motor to get to, but was shallow enough to keep Male at 3rd. Reese Havens then grounded out to the end the threat.

Martin wasn't so lucky in the eleventh. Juan Lagares dropped a bunt down the 3rd base line for an infield hit to lead off. Lagares entered the at-bat 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. After Maldonado struck out, pinch-hitter Niuman Romero singled, moving Lagares to 3rd. Eric Campbell then singled home Lagares for the go-ahead run. Gronauer then gave the Mets some breathing room, crushing a no-doubter over the Green Monster in left for a 3-run homer. It was only his 2nd home run of the year.

The Sea Dogs didn't go down quietly in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Dent pinch-hit for Butler, and singled up the middle to lead off the inning. Hazelbaker then doubled to put men at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. After Oscar Tejeda grounded out to finish off an 0 for 5 night, Hee lined an RBI single into right-center to cut the lead to 6-4. Hee got a little greedy however, as he was easily tagged out trying to stretch his single into a double. Dening then unceremoniously watched strike 3 go past his resting bat, and the game was over.

It was the first time in 3 trips to Fenway that the Sea Dogs have lost. They won close games in 2007 and 2009, but were caught on the wrong side of the nail-biter in this one.

Haeger had a valiant effort on the mound for Portland. The knuckleballer lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits, with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks. He allowed a base-runner to reach in every inning, but thanks to his defense, found a way out of all but one of those jams. He threw 114 pitches, with 69 for strikes.

McHugh frustrated Sea Dogs hitters in his 6 innings of work. He allowed no runs on 4 hits, while striking out 6 and walking just 1 batter. If not for his high pitch count, he could have frustrated them even longer.

The two teams will head back to Hadlock Field tomorrow for the conclusion of the 3-game series. The Mets will be looking for the sweep, and to further distance themselves from the Sea Dogs in the race to avoid last place in the North Division standings.



Sea Dogs Manager Kevin Boles

Mets Mash to 10-1 Win Over Dogs

The Binghamton Mets combined strong hitting and dominant pitching en route to a 10-1 thrashing of the Sea Dogs. Jeurys Familia allowed 1 hit over 6 innings, and Brahiam Maldonado blasted a grand slam over the monster as the Mets took game 1 of a 3-game series.

Familia took advantage of a Portland offense that was without arguably its best hitter, as Will Middlebrooks was called up to Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day. The righty only allowed a 2-out single to Jeremy Hazelbaker in the third inning, and struck out 7 batters to pick up his 4th win of the year.

The Mets got on the scoreboard in the second inning, thanks to some friendly bounces. Maldonado reached on a fielding error to lead off the inning. He would steal 2nd and later score on an RBI single by Eric Campbell. Campbell would score on a sacrifice fly by Niuman Romero to give Binghamton an early 2-0 lead.

That second inning was the only trouble Miguel Gonzalez dealt with through his first 4 innings. In the first, third, and fourth, he set the Mets down in order. The fifth inning was a different story. Dusty Ryan doubled to lead off the inning. After Romero struck out, Matt Den Dekker walked and Jonathan Malo singled to load the bases. Gonzalez got Juan Lagares to pop out to end his outing with 2 outs in the fifth. Eammon Portice came on in relief, and was anything but, as Maldonado unloaded a pitch into the netting on top of the monster for his 24th home run of the season.

The Mets would add 2 more runs in the eighth, as Campbell and Romero doubled, and Den Dekker hit a sacrifice fly, plating 2 more runs to make it 9-0.

The Sea Dogs would end the shut out in the bottom of the eighth, as Jack Egbert couldn't close the deal. Hazelbaker legged out an infield single to 3rd to lead off. Alex Hassan would follow with a single of his own. Mark Wagner would then ground into a double play, but Hazelbaker was able to make it to 3rd. Reynaldo Rodriguez then hit a bouncer to short for an infield single that scored Hazelbaker.

Allan Dykstra led off the top of the ninth with his 17th homer of the year, as Blake Maxwell had a forgettable relief appearance. The usually-solid Maxwell gave up 3 runs on 6 hits over 2 innings.

Familia improved to 4-3 on the season, as he made the whole Sea Dogs lineup look foolish. He needed only 81 pitches to get through his 6 innings of work.

Gonzalez is still looking for his first win in a Sea Dogs uniform, as he falls to 0-5. He gave up 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits, with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Den Dekker was the lone Met to not record a hit, but he did score a run and rive in a run as well.

Hazelbaker was the lone Sea Dogs to have a productive night at the plate. He went 2 for 4 with and scored Portland's only run of the game.

The two teams will head south tomorrow to play in the Futures at Fenway game at Fenway park. game time is 1:05. The Sea Dogs are 2-0 in their 2 previous trips to the Red Sox home park.




Sea Dogs Manager Kevin Boles

Portland Wins Battle of the Sea With 9-5 Win

It took the Sea Dogs bats 6 innings to wake up, but once they did, they didn't stop. Portland scored 8 of their 9 runs in the final three innings to rally past Erie for a 9-5 win. The Sea Dogs took 2 of 3 games from the SeaWolves, and tied the season series up 3-3.

Oscar Tejeda opened the scoring in the second inning, as he doubled off the wall in right to score Ronald Bermudez, who reached on an error. Erie would answer back in the top of the third, as Brandon Douglas singled home Jamie Johnson.

Charlie Haeger came into into his 4th start of the year with a 2-0 record. he was unusually wild today however, as he routinely got behind the count and issued 4 walks. He also had some trouble with catcher Matt Spring, as Spring had 2 passed balls. The first one led to Erie's first run in the third, and the second nearly led to another in the fourth. The knuckleballer really ran into trouble in the sixth. After getting Rawley Bishop to line out, he gave up a triple, a walk, and RBI double, and a sac fly to give Erie a 3-1 lead. He got Carl Iorg to ground out to end the inning on his 111th pitch of the game.

The Sea Dogs couldn't figure out Erie starter Casey Crosby, as Tejeda's double was the only hit he allowed through 5 innings. They caught a break in the sixth as Crosby left with an injury after giving up a single and 2 walks to load the bases. Tyler Stohr came on in relief and got two quick outs before Matt Spring tied the game with a 2-RBI double.

Josh Fields entered the game in the seventh inning for Portland, and he had a rough go of it to start. Fields gave up a lead-off walk to Johnson and a single to Douglas to put men at the corners. Justin Henry then hit a sacrifice fly to break up the tie. Two batters later Audy Ciriaco lined a double past 3rd base to score Douglas and make it 5-3 SeaWolves. Fields would get Deik Scram to strike out looking to end the inning.

Portland would rally in the bottom of the seventh, and never look back. Tejeda and Jon Hee led off with back-to-back hits to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Ryan Dent would run the count full before hitting a sacrifice fly, scoring Tejeda. After Ryan Khoury struck out, Alex Hassan would walk fro the second time in as many innings to load the bases. Mark Wagner then cracked a 3-2 pitch over Johnson's head in center for a 2-RBI double, giving the Sea Dogs a 6-5 lead. Rob Waite would come on to relieve Stohr and promptly gave up an RBI single to Will Middlebrooks.

After Fields got a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth the Sea Dogs would tack on some insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Bermudez reached on an error for the second time in the game to lead off. Tejeda then walked to knock out Waite. Austin Wood came in and got Hee to ground into a double play to get outs at 3rd and 1st. Dent again would draw the count full, this time taking ball four for a walk. Khoury would then walk on 4 pitches to load the bases. Hassan was the hero this time, dropping a single into no-man's land in right-center to plate 2 more runs. After 5 innings of futility, the Sea Dogs had a 9-5 lead heading into the ninth inning. Blake Maxwell came on in a non-save situation and recorded 3 quick outs to end the game.

Fields picked up the win to improve to 2-0 since the deadline deal that brought him to the Red Sox organization. he had one rough inning, and one solid inning, and was aided by 8 runs of support while pitching.

Khoury and Bermudez were the lone Sea Dogs to not record a hit, but they both scored a run.

Hassan, Wagner, and Spring each picked up 2 RBIs, and they were all with 2 outs.

The Sea Dogs get a day off tomorrow before heading to Reading. The win was their 50th of the season.

Wolves Top Dogs With 4 Run Fifth

Miguel Gonzalez was having one of his best outings of the season. That is until things started to unravel in the fifth inning. The spot starter gave up 3 straight hits to start the deciding inning, ending an outing that started with 8 straight retired batters. The SeaWolves scored 4 runs on 5 hits in the inning and cruised to a 6-2 win.

The Sea Dogs offense struggled for the second time in 3 games, as L.J. Gagnier made the Dogs look foolish. After striking out 15 times on Wednesday, the Sea Dogs nearly matched that total with 14 punch outs tonight. The Sea Dogs #3 and #4 hitters, Mark Wagner and Will Middlebrooks each went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.

Gagnier lasted into the sixth inning before he was taken out due to pitch count. Along the way he gave up 1 run on 3 hits, with 3 walks and 10 strikeouts. he threw 63 of his 101 pitches for strikes.

Gonzalez made the SeaWolves look just as foolish as the Sea Dogs offense through his first 3 innings. He struck out 4 of the first 6 batters he faced, then got 2 fly outs in the third before Bryan Holaday softly singled with 2 outs to break up the no-hitter. Erie finally got to Gonzalez in the fourth, as Brandon Douglas led off with a single and scored 2 batters later on an RBI groundout by Rawley Bishop. Gonzalez then got a groundout and a fly out to end the inning.

Gonzalez would not get out of a jam again in the fifth. He allowed the 7, 8, and 9 hitters to collect hits to lead off the inning, as Holaday's double scored Deik Scram for Erie's 2nd run of the night. Jeremy Kehrt came on in relief of Gonzalez, and promptly gave up a 2-RBI double to Jamie Johnson. Two batters later Justin Henry would bring home Johnson with an RBI single.

The Sea Dogs got a run back in the sixth as Gagnier began to fade. Alex Hassan led off with a triple, and scored 2 batters later on an RBI groundout by Middlebrooks. Ronald Bermudez would then draw a walk to knock Gagnier out of the game. Luis Marte came in and got Dan Butler to pop out to end the inning.

Erie would tack on another run in the seventh inning, but it could have been more. Holaday led of with a single that 2B Ryan Khoury just couldn't quite get to. Johnson then doubled to put men at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Brandon Douglas then hit a fly ball to left field that Holaday thought was deep enough. However, Hassan's throw to home was on the mark, and Butler was able to force Holaday wide of the plate and tag him out before he could reach back towards the bag. Johnson would then score as Henry tripled to deep right-center to make it 6-1 SeaWolves.

Portland would match the lone run in the bottom of the inning as Hazelbaker led off with a double, stole 3rd easily, and scored on an RBI double by Khoury.

The game fittingly ended as Jon Hee struck out swinging on 3 pitches in the bottom of the ninth.

Gagnier improved to 4-5 on the season, and Marte picked up his 2nd save.

Gonzalez dropped to 0-4 and his ERA has now ballooned to 6.21. More importantly, he is okay after taking a line drive off his left arm by Scram in the fifth.

Gonzalez was efficient with his pitches, as 54 of his 69 pitches were strikes. 24 of those 54 strikes were fouls, as Erie batters had to fight off some quality pitches.

Hazelbaker made two nice defensive plays in his new digs in right field. In the second inning he made a leaping grab at the wall to rob Audy Ciriaco of an extra-base hit, and made a diving catch in shallow right to end the fourth inning.

game 2 of the 3-game series comes tomorrow night at 6pm. Alex Wilson will take the mound, looking for his 10th win of the season.


Sea Dogs Manager Kevin Boles

Sea Dogs Bats Hit Snooze Button in 3-0 Loss

Jeremy Hazelbaker started the bottom of the first inning by striking out. Nine innings later he ended the game by striking out. In between Akron pitchers picked up 13 more strikeouts for a total of 15, as the Aeros beat the Sea Dogs 3-0 in a slow-paced game at Hadlock.

Brock Huntzinger had one of his better outings of the season, but a high pitch count kept him from completing 6 innings. After giving up a lead off single to Jordan Henry, Huntzinger retired the next 9 batters before giving up a solo home run to Ben Copeland in the fourth. He got of a jam in the fifth, getting Karexon Sanchez to fly out to center after giving up his only 2 walks of the game. He got two quick outs in the sixth before giving up back to back infield singles to end his outing. Huntzinger gave up only 4 hits, the solo home run and 3 infield singles.

The Sea Dogs got runners to 3rd in both the first and third innings, but both rallies were ended by strikeouts thrown by Paolo Espino. Espino set the standard for Akron pitchers in the game, giving up no runs on 4 hits, with 7 strikeouts and just 1 walk. All 4 Akron pitchers struck out at least 2 batters.

The Aeros would score again in the seventh, as John Drennen hit a 2-out solo home run off of Josh Fields. It was Drennen's 4th home run of the season, and the first one given up by Fields since being traded to the Red Sox organization.

The third Akron run was not so conventional, to say the least. Cesar Cabral walked the first two batters in the top of the ninth. After Sanchez struck out, Henry dropped a bunt down the 3rd base line. Sea Dogs catcher Dan Butler got to the ball, saw no play at 3rd, so he fired towards 2nd, and promptly pegged Cabral in the head from point blank. The ball flew into shallow left, allowing pinch-runner Donnie Webb to score. Luckily Cabral was okay, but it was a not-so-bright moment in a game filled with such moments for the Sea Dogs.

Cory Burns came on to pitch the ninth for the Aeros, and wrapped 2 strikeouts around a Butler groundout. Burns now has 31 saves on the year in 33 opportunities.

Espino is now 6-0 on the year, and his ERA sits at 2.44.

Huntzinger dropped to 5-10, but could have had a much more positive outing if he had any sort of run support.

In a sad statistic for offensively futility, every Sea Dogs batter struck out in the game.

The Aeros will say goodbye to Portland for the season with tomorrow's series finale. Game time is set for for noon, with Portland's Chris Balcolm-Miller facing off against Akron's T.J. McFarland.