Cup of Coffee: Dalbec mashes two homers (again!), Hamilton swipes 70th bag in finale

9/19 Cup of Coffee: For the second consecutive game, it was the Bobby Dalbec show, while the Worcester bullpen came up huge to slam the door and earn the victory. Portland closed out its regular season with a loss despite David Hamilton's 70th stolen base but now gets to prepare for the postseason against the same club the Sea Dogs just played -- and it's a Yankees affiliate, so the rivalry is alive and well in the minor leagues.

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Worcester Red Sox 3, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 2
Outhit but not outmatched, Worcester closed out its penultimate road trip with a 3-2 victory over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Bobby Dalbec was the star of the show, hitting two home runs for the second consecutive contest. Ryan Fitzgerald hit his 24th double of the season, scoring Ronaldo Hernandez, to put Worcester ahead for good.

Bryan Mata gave up all 9 of the hits allowed in the contest but scattered them to perfection, allowing just one earned run, walking none, and striking out seven in five innings. Jake Thompson allowed the other earned run with two walks and a sacrifice fly, but the rest of the bullpen combined to hold the RailRiders hitless for the remainder of the game. Brian Keller and Andrew Politi's four nearly perfect innings included just one walk and six punchouts.

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Somerset Patriots (NYY) 6, Portland Sea Dogs 3
Portland closed out the regular season with a 6-3 loss to their impending playoff foes. David Hamilton was 2 for 4 from the top of the batting order with two RBI and his 70th stolen base of the season, which officially sets the new team record. Hudson Potts was also 2 for 4 and cranked his 14th home run in the 9th inning to close the gap a bit. Chih-Jung Liu gave up two runs on two hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings, and Rio Gomez was saddled with the loss after giving up three earned runs on three hits without recording an out. But the rest of the pitching performances were solid, as Dylan Spacke, Jacob Wallace, and Brendan Cellucci all pitched scoreless innings before Cody Scroggins gave up one more run in the 9th inning.

Portland will now face off against Somerset in Game 1 of the Division Series at Hadlock Field at 6pm on Tuesday.

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Player of the Day: It's safe to say Bobby Dalbec has found something in his swing since being sent down from the major league club. Dalbec's second straight multi-home run performance gave Worcester a much-needed jolt of offense in a narrow 3-2 victory. Dalbec's prodigious power may be an important weapon for the Red Sox in their final two series of the year.

Photo Credit: Bobby Dalbec by Kelly O'Connor

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