CTSY-Portland Sea Dogs
Portland, Maine – Chris Sale struck out seven batters in his rehab start and Christian Koss backed him up with two home runs, leading the Portland Sea Dogs (33-39) to a 15-4 drubbing of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (31-41) on Thursday in front of a sold-out crowd at Hadlock Field.
Sale tossed 4.0 innings allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out seven. He threw 52 pitches with 36 of those for strikes.
Portland started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Stephen Scott and David Hamilton singled, putting runners on the corners. Hamilton stole second base and Wil Dalton hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Scott, and handing the Sea Dogs a 1-0 lead. Hamilton scored on a balk by New Hampshire pitcher Yosver Zulueta, increasing the lead to 2-0.
The Fisher Cats plated their first run in the top of the third inning against Sale. Cam Eden led off with an infield single. Chris Bec doubled to center, bringing around Eden, and making it a 2-1 game.
The Sea Dogs answered in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Christian Koss, expanding Portland’s to 3-1. In the top of the fifth, Cam Eden hit a solo home run of his own, bringing the score back to a one-run game, 3-2.
It didn’t take long for Portland to respond as they brought in another run in the bottom of the fifth. Scott led off with a double and Hamilton collected a base knock. Dalton grounded into another fielder’s choice, scoring Scott again to make it a 4-2 lead. The Sea Dogs added two more runs in the sixth with back-to-back solo homers from Koss and Tyreque Reed, bringing the lead to 6-2.
New Hampshire scored a run on a Davis Schneider RBI double in the top of the seventh, but Portland erupted for four more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Dalton, Nick Sogard, and Alex Binelas all walked to load the bases. Ceddanne Rafeala drove in the first run with a base hit, a fielding error by Rafael Lantigua brought in the second run, while Tyreque Reed drove in the final two runs of the inning with a single to right, extending Portland’s lead to 10-3.
Once again, the Fisher Cats brought in a run on a double in the top of the eighth inning, this time off the bat of John Aiello, bringing the score to 10-4. The Sea Dogs offense went right back to work in the bottom of the eighth, starting with a three-run blast by Binelas. Koss came through with his second homer of the night, and Zach Bryant locked down the ninth inning, securing a 15-3 Portland win.
Victor Santos (6-7, 4.18 ERA) tossed 4.0 inning in relief, allowing three runs on four hits while walking one and striking out three in his sixth win of the year. Yosver Zulueta (0-1, 10.80 ERA) worked through 1.2 innings, surrendering two runs on two hits, walking two, and striking out one in his first loss of the season.
The Sea Dogs and Fisher Cats play the fourth game of a six-game series on Friday at Hadlock Field with a 6:00 PM first pitch. Portland sends RHP Brett Kennedy (1-3, 4.65 ERA) to the mound against New Hampshire RHP Trent Palmer (0-1, 4.50 ERA).