Josh Zeid (1-1), Mike Cisco and Phillippe Aumont combined to limit the Portland Sea Dogs to just three hits, leading the Reading Phillies to a 2-0 win Friday night. Cody Overbeck had a sacrifice fly RBI in the first, and Tuffy Gosewisch hit a solo home run to provide the offense for the Phillies. Stolmy Pimentel (0-3) went five solid innings, but allowed both runs giving him the loss. The shutout stops the Sea Dogs win streak at three games.
Alex Hassan, Jorge Padron and Ryan Lavarnway were the only players to record hits for Portland. Hassan came in as the Eastern League's top hitter, batting .436. His sixth inning double gives him hits in 17 of the team's 18 games this season. Portland's best chance to score came in the top of the fourth inning against Zeid.
The righty walked Che-Hsuan Lin, who stole second. Then, Hassan walked to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Zeid got Tim Federowicz to fly out, but Lin was able to advance to third base, putting runners on first and third with only one out. Zeid got out of the jam by getting Lavarnway to pop out and Padron to fly out.
Pimentel was nearly as effective getting out of trouble. In the first inning, he walked leadoff man Freddy Galvis, then hit Michael Spidale. Matt Rizzotti would then advance both runners with a groundout. The next batter, Overbeck, hit a sacrifice fly before Pimentel rebounded to strike out Carlos Rivero, ending the inning. He also got out of a two on, one out jam in the fourth inning with a strikeout and a fly out.
The Sea Dogs continue their road trip and their series with the Phillies tomorrow. Stephen Fife will make his fourth start of the year opposite J.C Ramirez of Reading. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05pm. Portland heads to Trenton for a four-game series after Sunday afternoon's matchup with the R-Phils. 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. -PORTLAND SEA DOGS-
Wil Middlebrooks goes 3-4 with 2 HRs (Photo Jason Gendron/MESN)
It looked a little like Home Run Derby Thursday at Hadlock, as 4 different Sea Dogs batters went deep for 5 home runs, beating the Binghamton Mets 12-5.
Sea Dogs 3rd Baseman Wil Middlebrooks lead the HR barrage with 2 on the day, one in the 6th inning and one in the 8th inning.
Alex Hassan hit his 1st of the season in another ho hum 3-5 with a couple RBI. Hassan now leads the Eastern League in hitting with a .439 average.
Alex Wilson took the bump for the Sea Dogs and got 3rd win of the season. He offered up a blazing leadoff single to Mets Jordany Valdespin to start the game, but buckled down and struck out 2 to get out of the inning. Wilson spotted his 95 MPH fastball all day on his way to striking out 5 while allowing 5 hits and 1 earned run.
Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz finished off the HR brigade for the Sea Dogs.
Tejada with a huge 3 run HR (Photo Jason endron/Maine Sports Network)
It was all pitching through the first 5 innings at Hadlock Field. In the 6th inning, however, Oscar Tejeda decided it was a good time for his first home run of the season. Tejeda's 3-run
Maine Monster shot in the 6th, and Tim Federowicz' bases-clearing double in the 7th paced the Sea Dogs as they slammed the Binghamton Mets 8-2.
Michael Lee was on the mound for the Sea Dogs, looking for his first win of the season. He looked primed to get it after his best performance of the season. In 6 innings of work, he gave
up no runs on 2 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts. He threw 48 strikes on 72 pitches, and showed good efficiency as he worked farther into the game.
Binghamton's Mark Cohoon was matching Lee for the first 5 innings. he scattered 4 hits over 5 innings while striking out 4 batters. The wheels fell of for him in the 6th inning, however. After inducing Federowicz into a ground out, He allowed a double to Ryan Lavarnway off the bottom of the wall in center field. Chih-Hsien Chiang hit a fly ball to center to make it two outs. Cohoon walked Will Middlebrooks to put 2 men on with 2 outs. Tejeda then sent a pitch off a sign on top of the tall left-field wall to put the Sea Dogs on top.
The Sea Dogs looked even better at the plate in the 7th inning. Edgar Ramirez came on in relief of Cohoon, but he didn't last long. He walk the #9 hitter, Jon Hee to lead off the inning. A single by Che-Hsuan Lin and a walk by Alex Hassan then loaded the bases for Federowicz. The DH sent a liner past the scurrying left fielder to bring home all 3 baserunners, making it 6-0 Sea Dogs. That chased Ramirez after allowing 4 men to reach base without recording an out.
Roy Merritt relieved Ramriez, and quickly got Lavarnway and Chiang out. Middlebrooks then dropped a hit just inside the 3rd base line to bring home Federowicz. Tejeda blooped a single over a leaping 2nd baseman to plate Middlebrooks, making it 8-0 Sea Dogs in a rout. Ramirez got Ryan Dent to fly out to finally end the inning, as all 9 Sea Dogs batters went to bat in the inning.
Binghamton ended the shutout with Santo Luis pitching in relief in the 8th inning. After striking out Brahiam Maldonado to lead off the inning, Luis allowed a single by Carlos Guzman before walking Kai Gronauer and Allan Dykstra back-to-back on 4 pitches. With the bases loaded, #9 hitter Jordany Valdespin singled to right to bring home Guzman. Luis struck out Raul Reyes to get back on track, but gave up an infield hit to Josh Satin which scored Gronauer. Luis then struck out Eric Campbell to end the inning, and end a Binghamton comeback.
In the 9th inning Blake Maxwell came on in relief of Luis, and proceeded to allow a lead-off double to Michael Fisher. Fisher moved to 3rd on a 1-out single by Guzman. The comeback would never blossom as Gronauer grounded into a double-play to end the ballgame.
Lee picked up his first win of the season, and his first win in Double-A, to improve his record to 1-1. He also lowered his ERA to 4.26 after keeping the Mets scoreless in 6 innings.
Cohoon recorded his first loss of the season, as 6 innings was 1 too many for the left-hander.
Tejeda went 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs, to give him 9 on the season, to go along with his first home run. Fedreowicz went 2 for 5 with 3 RBIs to give him 13 on the season and up his batting average to .345.
The two teams play game 3 of a 4-game series tomorrow at 6pm. Hopefully it will be a little drier than it was for the first two games of the series.
Stephen Fife sets down 10 in a row. (Photo Jason Gendron/MESN)
Portland starter Stephen Fife set down 10 Binghamton batters in a row at one point. Then came the 5th inning, when the Mets pushed across 3 runs, ending Fife's day. The Mets would score 2 more runs in the 8th inning to win 6-3 in the opening game of a 4-game series.
Fife came into the game with a 2-0 record, looking to make it 3-0. He had a tough time getting through the 1st inning, however, as he gave up 2 hits, a walk, a hit batsman, and a sacrifice fly. He then forced Jean Luc Blaquiere into a groundout to end the inning. he then would proceed
to throw straight 1-2-3 innings. it was the 5th inning that ultimately did him in. The first 3 batters got hits before he struck out Eastern League Player of the Week Josh Satin. he then hit Eric Campbell with a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing home Allan Dykstra. Manager Kevin Boles then lifted him from the game and Tommy Hottovy came on in relief. Hottovy gave up a wall-ball double to Michael Fisher that brought 2 more runs home before retiring the next 2 batters.
Portland would score runs in the 4th and 5th innings. In the 4th, the bottom of the order collected 3 hits in a row after Jorge Padron grounded out and Will Middlebrooks popped out. Oscar Tejeda, Mitch Dening, and Ryan Dent each singled off Binghamton starter Brandon Moore. Dent's hit drove home Tejeda, but Che-Hsuan Lin flew out to right to end the inning.
In the 5th inning Tim Federowicz hit a 1-out double off the bottom of the Maine Monster, as the Sea Dogs tried to match what the Mets had just done. Ryan Lavarnway popped out to short to make it 2 outs. Jorge Padron then picked up his second hit of the night to bring Federowicz, making it 4-2 Binghamton. Middlebrooks then struck out to end the inning.
The Sea Dogs had a prime chance to cut into the deficit in the 7th inning, as Lavarnway and Padron had back-to-back 2-out singles. However, Middlebrooks lined out to Campbell to end the inning, as Portland couldn't find a way to get that next hit to score runs.
Binghamton added some breathing room in the top of the 8th inning. Brahiam Maldonado led off with a home run over the Monster to make it 5-2. Raul Reyes then hit a broken-bat single to second base. Blaquiere's sacrifice bunt moved Reyes to second, and a balk by Seth Garrison moved him to third. Jordany Valdespin hit a bloop single to right to plate Reyes. Those 2 runs were the first given up by Garrison on the year.
The Sea Dogs went down swinging in the bottom of the 9th. Che-Hsuan Lin reached on a dropped ball by the first baseman to lead off the inning. Alex Hassan then hit a double to put runners at second and third. Federowicz struck out for the first out of the inning before Lavarnway hit a sacrifice fly to deep left to bring home Lin. Padron then struck out to end the game.
Fife's line was 4 1/3 innings pitched, 5 hits, 4 earned runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 2 hit batsmen.
Brandon Moore picked up his first won of the season, going 5 innings, with 7 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts.
Jesus Feliciano, Michael Fisher, and Allan Dykstra each had 2 hits for the Mets.
Jorge Padron went 3 for 5 with 3 singles and an RBI to pace the Sea Dogs. Hassan went 2 for 5 after going 0 for 5 in his last game.
The Portland pitchers combined for 7 strikeouts against only 1 walk.
The two teams play again tomorrow at 6pm for game 2 of this 4 game series. -WIL KRAMLICH-
It looked like a pitchers duel early on, as Stolmy Pimentel and Steve Hirschfeld both were dealing in the first three innings. Then the fireworks that were scheduled for after the game came a little early. New Britain scored 8 of their 9 runs between the 4th and 7th innings, and the Sea Dogs' rally in the ninth fell short as the Rock Cats won 9-7.
Pimentel looked to be fully in command early on, save for two hits that led to a run in the 2nd inning. Through three innings he had 2 strikeouts, 2 hits, 1 earned run, and no walks, while
throwing 24 of his 38 pitches for strikes. Then the 4th inning came, and it all fell apart. He walked the first two batters, each on 5 pitches, before Ray Chang and Yangervis Solarte hit and RBI single and double, respectively. Mark Dolenc's sacrifice fly made it 3 runs in the inning, giving New Britain a 4-1 lead after 3 1/2 innings.
Hirschfeld looked even better for the Rock Cats. He struck out 4 of the first 7 batters he faced, catching both Will Middlebrooks and Oscar Tejeda looking with two men and no one out in the 2nd. He allowed an RBI double to Ryan Lavarnway in the 3rd, but through three innings he looked like he had the best of the Portland offense. He also ran into trouble in the 4th inning. Jorge Padron and Middlebrooks had a double and a single, respectively to lead off the inning. After Tejeda was safe on a fielder's choice and Chih-Hsien Chiang popped out to short, Ryan Dent
came up to bat and things got a little weird. A wild pitch plated Padron, and the other runners advanced as well. Dent got to a full count, then hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Middlebrooks. Che-Hsuan Lin drew a full count walk, but Alex Hassan grounded out to end the inning.
New Britain would add two runs each in the 5th and 6th innings, off Pimentel and reliever Jeremy Kehrt. The Sea Dogs added a run in the 5th, as Chiang singled to second with the bases loaded and two outs after reliever Spencer Steedley walked three batters. That chased Steedley after only 2/3 of an inning. Santos Arias got Dent to ground out to end the inning.
The Rock Cats added an insurance run in the 7th, as Daniel Rohlfing singled home Deibinson Romero with two outs. That pushed the score to 9-4 at the 7th-inning stretch.
The Sea Dogs went to bat in the bottom of the 9th with nothing to lose and gave it all they had. After Alex Hassan grounded out leading off to complete his 0-for-5 night, Tim Federowicz drew a full-count walk. Lavarnway then provided some early fireworks, sending a Jake Stevens pitch over the wall in right-center. That made it 9-6 New Britain. Padron grounded out to the pitcher to put the Sea Dogs down to their last out. Middlebrooks singled to shallow left to give the fans some hope. Oscar Tejeda then doubled him home to cut the deficit to two. Stevens was replaced by Tyler Robertson, who had to face Chiang, who represented the tying run. A wild pitch moved Tejeda to second, but Chiang struck out swinging with a full count to end the game.
Arias picked up the win, pitching 2 1/3 innings with 1 hit, no runs, and 2 strikeouts. Pimentel took the loss to go to 0-2 on the young season. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up 6 runs on 6 hits, with 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. He finished with 39 strikes on 72 pitches. Robertson picked up his third save of the season after striking out Chiang, the only batter he faced.
Ray Chang and Yangervis Solarte led the Rock Cat offense. Chang went 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a run, and Solarte went 2 for 5 with 3 RBIs.
Lavarnway went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs, 2 runs, and a walk. Middlebrooks also went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Hassan's 0-fer night ended a hot start to the season, and dropped his batting average down to a "miniscule" .408.
The teams play the rubber game of the series tomorrow afternoon at 1pm.
Huntzinger gets 1st AA win (Photo Noah Whittenburg/MESN)
Brock Huntzinger picked-up his first Double-A win and Alex Hassan extended his hitting streak, leading the Portland Sea Dogs to 5-1 win over the New Britain Rock Cats Thursday night at Hadlock Field. The Sea Dogs improve to a 5-7 record before a crowd of 3,499.
Huntzinger (1-2) held the New Britain offense to one run on four hits over five innings, recording one strikeout and did not allow a walk, earning his first Double-A win. The lone blemish came in the fourth inning when Chris Parmelee blasted a homerun to right field.
The Sea Dogs bullpen would provide outstanding relief, tossing four shutout innings allowing just one hit and two walks. Seth Garrison tossed two scoreless frames extending his scoreless streak to 9.1 innings; he has not allowed a run in five appearances this season. Santo Luis would add two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.
Portland's offense went to work early scoring two runs in the first inning. The Sea Dogs loaded the bases with nobody out when Ryan Lavarnway drew a walk to score Che-Hsuan Lin. Portland added a run when Tim Federowicz scored on a wild pitch.
In the fourth inning, Alex Hassan ripped a double down the right-field line scoring Jon Hee. Hassan has hit safely in all 12 games this season and leads the league in hitting with a .455 average (20-for-44). Hassan would score following a single by Federowicz and a throwing error by New Britain third baseman Ray Chang. Lavarnway added a RBI single scoring Federowicz to cap the scoring.
Bobby Lanigan (1-2) suffers the loss surrendering five runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings of work.
The Portland Sea Dogs will continue the series with the New Britain Rock Cats on Friday at 6:00 PM at Hadlock Field. Stolmy Pimentel (0-1) will start for the Sea Dogs. He will be opposed by New Britain righty Steve Hirschfield (1-0). The first fireworks show of the season is slated for after the game, presented by Oxford Networks.
Some pitchers are blessed with a great curve ball. Others can throw fastballs in the high 90's. Kyle Fernandes has another gift: He can grow a mustache like no one else.
"As you'll see, my facial hair tends to grow pretty quick," said Fernandes when the first mention of his 'stache was mentioned.
Fernandes, the Westport, Massachusetts native, isn't going to be listed high on Baseball America's prospect lists. You won't hear sports talk radio saying that "A healthy Kyle Fernandes will save this bullpen."The lefty reliever still plays an important role in this organization, that of experienced minor league veteran and clubhouse clown.
"I think that's why they keep me around," said Fernandes about his clubhouse antics, only half-jokingly. "Being a clubhouse guy is my first job."
Everyone has worked with people who weren't alot of fun, but most of use don't have to travel on long bus rides with them or room with them on the road. Kevin Millar's place in Red Sox lore will be made forever due to his role as clubhouse guy. In the minors, when guys aren't making major league-type and some guys are finding out they might have to do other things with their life other than play baseball for a living, it's even more important to have some one to lighten the load.
"I try to talk to everyone (in the clubhouse)," said Fernandes. "I don't care. It's a long season, and it's not as long when everyone is having fun."
There are alot of things that can be done to ease the tension, whether it's putting together talent shows, roasting the manager and minor league catching instructor, or finding ways to keep warm in the bullpen.
"There aren't any heaters (out in the pen), so we're stuck doing one thing out in the bullpen, and that's cuddling," laughed Fernandes. "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."
During his interview, he was missing a meeting on the field with the rest of his teammates. This seems to be something he's used to.
"I'm the media guy, I'll do videos, maybe try to get into acting said Fernandes. "I know I'm probably still here for the things I do in the clubhouse. It's still fun, and if ever stops being fun, I'll have to do something else."
If all else fails, he could be a radio guy. Or a professional mustache grower.
