Dogs win two

The Sea Dogs won the last two games of the series against New Hampshire, 6-1 on Tuesday night and 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday's battle of between the aces failed to materialize, as Portland victimized Josh Banks for six runs over five innings in handing him his first loss of the season. Portland managed only seven hits, but five were for extra bases, including home runs by two of the guys who have been slumping this year - Brandon Moss and Stefan Bailie. Jon Papelbon pitched six strong innings, with a first inning home run to Kevin Barker the only hit allowed. Papelbon has an unusual stat line this year - six home runs allowed, but only nine runs allowed on the entire season. If not for that pesky long ball, he'd have an ERA below 1.00.

There were encouraging signs from the lineup in Wednesday's game, as the Dogs scored five runs off Victor Perkins. They were shut down for 3 2/3 innings by James Vermilyea, who struck out seven. Kason Gabbard had his first good start in a couple of weeks, allowing only two runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched before Manny Delcarmen and Conor Brooks gave up the lead. Portland strung together a couple of hits and a couple of walks in the bottom of the 9th to collect the win.

The Dogs are off to Maryland to face off against the Bowie Baysox, who are 14-19 on the young season. I plan to profile some of the Baysox prospects in the next day or two.