For the first time in eight games, Hudson Potts was held hitless Tuesday night at Hadlock Field.
Even so, he found himself doused with water and surrounded by celebratory teammates after lofting a game-ending sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Portland Sea Dogs a 5-4 victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats before a crowd of 5,357.
“It was a long at-bat,” said Potts, whose long fly to left came after he had fouled off two pitches with the count full. “I’m just trying to get a pitch that I can handle and get it in the outfield and hopefully bring the run in.”
Portland’s sixth pitcher, Oddanier Mosqueda (2-1), earned the decision by preventing New Hampshire from scoring in the top of the 10th. He struck out two and induced a fly. An error and an intentional walk loaded the bases for the Sea Dogs. By rule, each team starts an extra inning with a runner on second.
Tuesday’s game marked the start of the second half of the Eastern League baseball season. The Sea Dogs finished the first half at 30-39, good for fourth place in the six-team EL North. Somerset from the North and Richmond from the South punched their playoff tickets.
Tuesday also marked the start of Rehab Week at Hadlock Field. Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor tossed the first inning Tuesday and will do so again Wednesday night. Thursday’s starter is Chris Sale, who made two rehabilitation starts at Hadlock last summer and joined the club Tuesday afternoon.
Taylor, 29, is a left-handed reliever who spent most of the 2018 season with the Sea Dogs on his way to the big leagues. He is recovering from a herniated disk. He rose to prominence last season by making 26 consecutive scoreless outings for the Red Sox, and appeared in 61 games, second-most on the team.
After three one-inning outings with Triple-A Worcester last week, Taylor took the mound at Hadlock with mixed success. He threw strikes on 10 of his 14 pitches and consistently hit 92 mph with his fastball, but New Hampshire’s Spencer Horwitz sent one of those offerings 391 feet for a solo home run into the Sea Dogs’ bullpen.
The other four Fisher Cats who faced Taylor all hit ground balls. Two stayed in the infield for outs and two skittered through for hits. Left fielder Tyreque Reed threw out a runner at the plate to keep the New Hampshire lead at 1-0.
“I thought his fastball had more life to it,” said Sea Dogs Manager Chad Epperson, comparing Taylor’s performance Tuesday with a previous rehab start in late April. “The big thing for him is to make sure he gets out of here healthy.”
Another rehabbing pitcher, righty Bryan Mata, followed Taylor on Tuesday night. Mata underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2021 and joined the Sea Dogs this week after making four Class A starts earlier this month.
Mata topped out at 99 mph Tuesday and mixed in sliders, curves and change-ups. He allowed two hits in 3 1/3 innings with a walk and three strikeouts. He is scheduled to start on Sunday.
“I felt really good,” said Mata, the No. 7 prospect in the Red Sox system according to mlb.com. “I had a lot of confidence.”
Mata had a scare in the fifth when he came up hobbling after covering first base on an infield grounder. He said his left calf suddenly cramped up after he stepped on the bag with his right foot.
The Sea Dogs appeared to have the game in hand after David Hamilton’s fluke triple to right in the eighth inning broke a tie and put the Sea Dogs ahead 4-2. The shallow fly glanced off the glove of New Hampshire second baseman Rafael Lantigua after a long run.
“It’s not the way you draw it up, but (Hamilton) is working hard right now on putting the ball in play with two strikes,” Epperson said. “That right there is a good example why.”
Lantigua redeemed himself in the ninth with a two-out, two-run delivery of his own. His bases-loaded double spoiled the save attempt of Portland closer Jake Thompson, who hit two batters, struck out two and allowed a single before Lantigua sent the game to extra innings.
The Sea Dogs had taken took a 2-1 lead in the third on singles by Reed and Stephen Scott, a walk, a hit batsman and an infield grounder from Elih Marrero. New Hampshire shortstop Orelvis Martinez prevented two more runs by making an impressive backhand catch on a flare to shallow left by Alex Binelas.
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