Dogs Improve to 4-0

The Portland Sea Dogs established a new franchise record for consecutive wins to start the season, completing a four-game sweep over the Norwich Navigators with an 8-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. Kason Gabbard capitalized on a five run fourth inning and pitched seven shutout innings to earn the victory. The Sea Dogs had two rallies in the game, but there weren't a lot of deep counts and the game was completed in a crisp 2 hours under a brilliant April sunshine. I didn't think that April baseball in Portland could get any better than Saturday's game, but Sunday's temps topped 60 and short sleeves were in order for most of the afternoon.


Game Notes:

• Fred Lewis, who earned a B- from Sickels and ranked as the #7 prospect in the Giants's system, failed to impress today. On top of a sun-hindered dropped fly ball that led to Portland's 5 unearned runs in the second inning, Lewis showed a poor approach at the plate all afternoon. Lewis led off the game by grounding out on the first pitch, and followed that up with two out in the 6th with a terrible first-pitch bunt back to the mound. This certainly isn't the type of approach we're used to seeing from the Red Sox and Sea Dogs these days.
• Gabbard was efficient (75 pitches over 7 innings), and was only tested in the 7th. It was a much nicer performance than I came to expect from him last season (a pleasant surprise!). Gabbard, however, still doesn't miss any bats - he didn't record a K and I only counted six swings-and-misses during the whole game.
• Billy Sadler is another Navigator on Sickels' list. He throws in the low 90's, but was no mystery for the Sea Dogs. He allowed a three-run rally in the 8th to round out Portland's scoring.
• Little Dustin Pedroia, who (as mentioned earlier) swings very hard, took a Chris Begg offering over the wall in left center during the 2d inning rally. This brought a big hand from the crowd, appreciative that such a little guy could hit the ball so far. It wasn't quite the blast that Chris Durbin hit of the scoreboard yesterday, but impressive nonetheless.
• Hanley Ramirez had another good game, going 2-4 (and hitting the ball hard the opposite way three times), and making several nice plays in the field. He looks better than he was last year, which is saying a lot. I expect big things from him this season, and I'll be shocked if he isn't in Rhode Island come August.
• Jared Sandberg made two errors for the second game in a row. He was a decent third baseman when he was in the majors, but he's looking shaky thus far this season. As long as he continues to swing a big bat, all will likely be forgiven.