The first game of Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader at Hadlock Field was a perfect example of how the week has gone for the Portland Sea Dogs. Tyler McDonough’s single in the bottom of the ninth gave Portland an extra inning, come-from-behind, 5-4 walk-off win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. It was the Sea Dogs’ third walk-off win in four games, and extended their winning streak to seven games.
Game 2 is one the Sea Dogs are happy to shrug off and forget. The Fisher Cats pounded 12 hits and took advantage of 10 walks in an 11-1 win. By the time the Fisher Cats were putting the finishing touches on the victory, a vast majority of the announced crowd of 7,368 was long gone.
“For us to come out and get the first one, obviously, was huge. It’s great to get the first one. We knew both games we’d have to be on point being pitch efficient, which we weren’t in the second game,” said Sea Dogs Manager Chad Epperson.
The Sea Dogs (30-14) used spot starters on the mound in both games. In Game 1, lefty Brendan Nail made his fifth start of the season, going three hitless innings while allowing one run and four walks with one strikeout. Jake Webb (5-1) pitched the ninth and was credited with the win.
Portland’s Game 2 starter was lefty Rio Gomez, making his first start of the season. Gomez lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs.
“Anytime you’re asking your bullpen to cover 14 innings, that’s a huge task for these guys, especially knowing how much volume they’ve had this past week and last week,” Epperson said.
In the first game, the Sea Dogs needed extra innings but rallied for their third walk-off win of the series. New Hampshire took a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning when Will Robertson scored on Riley Tirotta’s sacrifice fly to right field. In the bottom of the inning, Automatic runner Stephen Scott scored from second base when Christian Koss reached on a throwing error by Fisher Cats pitcher Hagen Danner. McDonough then singled to center field, scoring Koss with the winning run.
Portland took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Ceddanne Rafaela and Nick Yorke. Stephen Scott’s RBI double in the fourth scored Phillip Sikes, and the Sea Dogs had a 3-1 lead.
Back-to-back doubles to open the top of the fifth by Sebastian Espino and Tirotta cut Portland’s lead to 3-2, and Leo Jimenez’s two-out single tied the game at 3-3.
Game 2 was all Fisher Cats. New Hampshire (21-22) broke the game open with eight runs in the second inning, sending 12 batters to the plate. The big hits were a pair of home runs. Miguel Hiraldo’s grand slam to right field gave the Fisher Cats a 5-0 lead. Three batters later, Will Robertson blasted a two-run shot to center field, pushing the lead to 7-0.
PK Morris’ two-out double off Skyler Arias, who came on in relief of Gomez with two outs in the second, scored Tirotta, and New Hampshire’s lead was 8-0.
Damiano Palmegiani’s two-run home run in the fifth inning over the Maine Monster pushed New Hampshire’s lead to 11-0. Tirotta scored three runs.
Portland broke up the shutout in the seventh inning with an RBI double by Sikes.
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