Portland Sea Dogs fans got a chance Friday night to see what the team looks like when it plays on the road.
The Sea Dogs looked good in their road uniforms with their red jerseys and gray pants, but the result wasn’t what they were hoping for.
Three Sea Dogs pitchers held the Hartford Yard Goats to just two hits, but that was enough for Hartford to pull out a 2-0 win before 2,416 at Hadlock Field.
The four-game series was originally scheduled to be played at 6,000-seat Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford, but construction delays have pushed back the opening of the new ballpark until May. So the Yard Goats are wearing their home white uniforms this weekend and get the last at-bat.
The loss snapped Portland’s two-game winning streak.
“We were not able get any runs across even though we got a lot of opportunities,” Portland Manager Carlos Febles said.
The Sea Dogs did collect eight hits off three Hartford pitchers, but they also hit into four double plays.
“Teams go through tough times like this, but the time is going to come when we will put five or six runs on the board,” Febles said.
Harrison Musgrave allowed four hits in 62/3 innings to beat the Sea Dogs for the second time in six days.
“He threw strikes, and if a guy throws strikes, you’ve got to be aggressive,” Febles said. “If you get a good pitch to hit, you’ve got to jump on it. We did, but unfortunately some balls were hit hard right at people.”
Hartford scored its runs in the fifth inning.
With one out, left-handed hitter Correlle Prime bounced a single into right, beating the defensive shift for the first hit of the game off Ty Buttrey. After Prime stole second and third and David Dahl drew a two-out walk, Raimel Tapia fisted a 1-2 fastball into left. Dahl beat center fielder Cole Sturgeon’s throw to third, then scored when third baseman Jordan Betts threw wildly to second in an attempt to keep Tapia from moving up.
The Sea Dogs threatened to score in the sixth, eighth and ninth.
In the sixth, Tzu-Wei Lin singled sharply up the middle and Wendell Rijo walked with one out. Bryce Brentz hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
In the eighth, Lin reached on a fielder’s choice and Rijo walked with two outs. Brentz popped up to the catcher to end the inning.
It was the first game of the season for Brentz, on a rehab assignment from Triple-A Pawtucket after straining a muscle in his left side early in spring training.
“I haven’t played much in the past three years because of injury,” said Brentz, who hit .296 with 17 homers and 76 RBI for the Sea Dogs in 2012. “A lot of it is repetition, and I didn’t come through and get the job done in the last two at-bats.”
Sturgeon and Jake Romanski started the ninth with back-to-back singles. But Rainel Rosario took a called third strike for the first out, and Tim Roberson hit into a game-ending double play.
Buttrey (0-3) was charged with the loss despite allowing only one earned run in 42/3 innings. Relievers Rob Wort and Simon Mercedes didn’t give up a hit, with Wort retiring all seven batters he faced.
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