Cup of Coffee: Sea Dogs take double header; Salem, Greenville split

5/24 Cup of Coffee: The Sea Dogs won both ends of a double header against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, while Salem beat the Winston-Salem Dash at home, and the Drive lost to the Asheville Tourists.

J.C. Linares (Kelly O'Connor)

The Sea Dogs played a double header against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR) to make up for Tuesday night's rainout. Portland held off a Fisher Cats rally and won game one 7-6 in extra innings. The Sea Dogs started off the game with a run in the top of the first when Jeremy Hazelbaker drew a walk and then was driven in by Ronald Bermudez. The Fisher Cats answered with two run homer in the bottom of the frame against Portland Pitcher Chris Hernandez. The top of the third gave the Sea Dogs three more runs, with a solo home run from J.C. Linares and a Derrik Gibson single that scored Reynaldo Rodriguez and Bryce Brentz. The Fisher Cats retaliated with two more runs in the fifth to tie the game at 4. Hernandez came off the mound in the sixth inning with two outs and a man on first. He  pitched 5.2 innings with 8 hits, 4 runs, 4 errors, and three walks. Hernandez was replaced by Brock Huntzinger who struck out the next batter to shut the inning down. Huntzinger remained scoreless in the seventh and picked up his first win of the season. He pitched 1.1 innings with 2 hits, no runs, no walks, and 3 strikeouts. Due to the double header, the game was supposed to be abbreviated to seven innings, but the tie forced extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Portland put up three runs. Gibson led off the inning, reaching with a double, and was advanced on a bunt from Zach Gentile. Gibson then scored on a balk. Hazelbaker drew a walk to reach base, followed by a Linares double that scored Gentile and Hazelbaker. The Sea Dogs put Caleb Clay on the mound to begin the eighth, and let up a two run homer to the Fisher Cats, but was able to get the next three batters out to end the game. Clay pitched 1 inning with 1 hit, 2 runs, and a walk. Both teams had 11 hits in the opener, and Gibson led Portland with 3.

Portland also took game two 3-2 over the Fisher Cats. The Sea Dogs put up the first run of the game in the second when Ryan Dent drew a walk, stole second base, and then was driven in on a Hazelbaker single. The Sea Dogs put up two more runs in the top of the sixth when Brentz blasted a homer that scored himself and Linares. Portland pitcher Billy Buckner kept New Hampshire scoreless through five innings, but gave up a home run in the sixth. Buckner pitched six innings with 5 hits, 1 run, and 2 walks and was credited with the win, which improved his record to 3-3. He was replaced in the seventh inning by Josh Fields, who gave up a home run to make the score 3-2, but got the remaining batters out to end the game. Fields pitched 1 inning with 1 hit, 1 run, no walks, and 2 strikeouts. The Sea Dogs gained 2 games on the Fisher Cats, but remained in last place in the Eastern Division, only half a game back from New Hampshire.

Salem hosted the Winston-Salem Dash (CWS) and came out on top, winning 7-5. The Dash put up the first run of the game in the first inning. The Red Sox answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning, thanks to a Travis Shaw single that scored Jackie Bradley and a sacrifice fly from Drew Hedman that drove in Shaw. Winston-Salem put up another run against Red Sox pitcher Ryan Pressly to tie the game in the second. They then took the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth. Salem answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Hedman and Shannon Wilkerson drew walks to lead off the inning and were both driven in on a Michael Almanzar double. After a pitcher change, Carson Blair singled and Felix Sanchez hit into a double play, but managed to drive in Almanzar. They put up another run in the bottom of the fifth when Hedman singled to drive in Xander Bogaerts, who had reached on a fielding error. Pressly pitched 5 innings with 6 hits, 4 runs, and 3 walks and was replaced to begin the sixth by Ruben Flores. The Dash put up a run in the top of the sixth to tie the game. Flores, who pitched 1 inning with 2 hits, 1 run, and no walks was replaced in the seventh by Pete Ruiz. Salem picked up their last run of the game in the bottom of the seventh when Hedman blasted a solo home run. Ruiz kept the Dash scoreless for the last three innings of the game, and pitched 3 innings with 2 hits, no runs, and no walks. Both teams had 10 hits on the night, and Hedman, Wilkerson, and Almanzar each had 2 hits for the Red Sox.

The Greenville Drive visited the Asheville Tourists and gave up 6 runs in the 4th inning to lose 7-2. The game was scoreless through the first three innings, until the bottom of the fourth when Asheville broke open the lead with 6 runs against pitcher Henry Owens. Owens hadn't allowed any hits until the fourth when he gave up seven and a wild pitch to help the Tourists score. He pitched 4 innings with 7 hits, 6 runs, 6 errors, and 2 walks. He was replaced in the top fifth by Scott Swinson who kept Asheville scoreless through the next three innings before giving up a run in the bottom of the eighth. Swinson pitched 4 innings with 5 hits, 1 run, and a walk. On the offensive side, it was a quiet night for the Drive. They put up their first run in the top of the fifth when Blake Swihart doubled to score Lucas Leblanc. They put up one more run in the seventh when Henry Ramos reached on a fielding error, which helped score David Renfroe. The Drive had just 5 hits in the game, compared to Asheville's 12.

Player of the Night: J.C. Linares, whose two hits for 3 RBI's helped Portland pull off a game one victory in extra innings.

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