Losing ugly

The game was as ugly as the weather was beautiful as the Sea Dogs lost to the Erie Coincidences 11-4 on Sunday. An afternoon that saw Jon Lester allow just one run and strike out ten ended with three terrible innings of baseball during which the bullpen (10 runs) and defense (five errors) simply imploded. The loss completed a three-game sweep by Erie over the weekend.

For reasons unbeknownst to me, the Sea Dogs posted a lineup which featured their starting catcher (Alberto Concepcion) playing third base and their third-best catcher (Jeff Bailey) behind the plate. To be fair, the second-best catcher (Jim Buckley) is currently working as the backup in Pawtucket. I heard a snippet on the radio before the game reporting that Jared the Wicket was not in the lineup because he was "under the weather", though he did pinch hit in the 8th and play LF in the 9th. I have no idea why Raul Nievez wasn't in the field in Sandberg's place, other than the fact that he's a poor hitter, but he remained on the bench for the entire game. To be fair to Concepcion, he fielded the position as well as Sandberg has this season, though he did make one clumsy error on a ground ball by Byron Gettis in the 8th. That wasn't the worst play of the inning, however. With Gettis on second following a walk to Victor Mendez, Marc Deschenes uncorked a wild pitch on an 0-2 count. Bailey recovered the ball and sailed a throw well over Concepcion's head, allowing Gettis to score. Chris Durbin was obviously not expecting a play in left field in that situation and bobbled the ball while backing up the throw. This bobble allowed Mendez to move to third base, from where he scored Erie's seventh run on Chris Maples' sac fly to Durbin.

Straight out of South Paris Babe Ruth Baseball, that one was. Four more runs in the 9th sealed the game for Erie. Next up, we'll try our luck with the Trenton Thunder.

Scorer's notes:

• Lester was again masterful, keeping the Sea Wolves off balance and missing a lot of bats. He struggled a lot in the fifth inning, issuing a couple of walks and having trouble keeping the ball in the strike zone, but would have escaped unscathed if not for Kenny Perez' throwing error on a bases loaded ground ball. Barring those struggles, Lester may have been able to pitch into the seventh inning. Lester is now fifth in the EL with a 2.63 ERA and tied for fourth with 74 K's on the season.
• Which would have been good, because Manny Delcarmen had a "bad Manny" outing. Two strikeouts, but two walks, a single, and one home run allowed. The home run came in the wrong part of that sequence, resulting in a grand slam (and 5-3 Erie lead) for Don Kelly.
• The heart of Portland's offense was solid, with two hits each by Brandon Moss, Jeremy West and Kenny Perez, and three plus a walk by Dustin Pedroia. Durbin, however, was 0-14 from the leadoff spot in the series.
• Contrast Durbin to Erie's #9 hitters. There was a different one in every game, but they combined for six hits in 11 at bats over the three games.
• Slugger's dad was on hand for Father's Day. Sporting gray hair and walking with a cane, Slugger's dad provided encouragement during the mascot's nightly race around the bases against a seven year old kid, and consolation following Slugger's inevitable loss. Go get 'em next time, Slugger!