On a day when the dormant Portland Sea Dogs offense woke up with 15 hits Monday afternoon, Justin Haley might be left in the shadows.
But adjust the spotlight Haley’s way after his five-hit performance over seven innings.
Haley held the Hartford Yard Goats to one run. Haley’s pitching and the Sea Dogs’ bats led Portland to an 8-6 victory at Hadlock Field.
Haley (4-3) lowered his ERA to 2.49.
“He keeps putting up zeroes,” Portland Manager Carlos Febles said.
Reliever Jake Drehoff had a rough Double-A debut, giving up five runs in the eighth.
Nik Turley retired the last four hitters for his second save.
Right fielder Henry Ramos continued his resurgence as a Red Sox prospect, going 3 for 5 with a triple, three runs and an RBI. Third baseman Ryan Court also had three hits.
Eight of the Sea Dogs in the lineup got at least one hit (touted prospect Andrew Benintendi, who had been hot recently, went 0 for 5), and the 15 hits were a season high.
“Keep the line moving; it’s fun having guys on base all the time,” said Court, 28, one of the veterans brought in four weeks ago to help this young team.
The Sea Dogs (18-32) have been averaging just under three runs a game, but they split the four-game series with Hartford (30-19).
“We’ve played good baseball,” Court said. “(Hartford) has great arms. You’re going to lose games, but we’ve played really well lately.”
Ramos led off with a triple against Zach Jemiola (4-2). With his two singles, Ramos is batting .381 in his last 16 games.
“He’s coming along,” Febles said. “He’s gaining confidence at the plate. He’s put a lot of work in every day. It’s about his approach and what (pitches) to look for.”
Church singled in Ramos. Nate Freiman and Jake Romanski also singled in the first as Portland took a 2-0 lead.
Haley retired the first six batters, three by strikeout – using his fastball (90-92 mph), slider, curve and change-up.
“Something he’s doing well this year is using his change-up a little more, and mixing his pitches a little more,” Febles said. “His fastball plays better when he throws the change-up. He has a sneaky fastball and it looks 100 (mph).”
Portland made it 4-0 in the second inning, thanks to singles by Wendell Rijo and Ramos and two Hartford throwing errors.
Hartford got two doubles in the fourth (Raimel Tapia and David Dahl) for a run.
Portland broke it open with four runs in the sixth on four hits, including one of Tim Roberson’s two doubles, and a Tzu-Wei Lin two-run triple, and two more Hartford errors.
Drehoff struggled, giving up four hits – including Pat Valaika’s two-run homer run over the left-field wall – and two walks.
Turley, a minor league free agent signed last month, entered with a runner on second and two outs. He induced a pop-up and then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts.
NOTES: The announced paid attendance was 4,157 … Hartford Manager Darin Everson was ejected in the second inning, arguing a checked-swing call … Keith Couch, who was sent back to Triple-A this weekend, had a rough start for Pawtucket on Sunday, giving up seven runs in 32/3 innings.
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