Ramirez to the DL

The Sea Dogs placed Hanley Ramirez on the disabled list with a back strain, retroactive to Sunday's game. Ramirez suffered the injury in Saturday's 14 inning loss to Bowie. Relief pitcher Pete Fischer, who snuck onto the roster about a week ago, was also put on the DL. I'm still not certain who Fischer replaced on the roster. Ramirez was in a bit of a slump at the plate, with his numbers having dipped to 274/330/409 over the last couple of weeks. Maybe a little rest and rejuvination will do him good. Fisher hasn't done much for the Sea Dogs, allowing 7 runs in just 4 IP.

The two roster spots were filled by SS Dirimo Chavez and LHP Randy Beam, both promoted from Wilmington. Beam is perhaps the more promising prospect, having been drafted by the Red Sos in 2004 and pitching very impressively: 40 IP, 20 H, 7 BB, 46 K, 0.68 ERA, 0.68 WHIP in 2004. At Wilmington thus far, Beam has pitched 28 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 28/11 K/BB ratio - still pretty good. Chavez is a singles-hitting middle infielder who has some on-base skills. He batted 271/352/312-1-30 in 136 games between rookie ball and low A in 2004. He hasn't hit much at Wilmington thus far (230/307/350-1-11), but there are good signs - the power has increased a little bit, and he's still drawing walks (.077 IsoD). Chavez was playing a Raul Nievez-type utility role in Wilmington, and I suspect he'll do more of the same in Portland.

The good news is that the Sea Dogs swept a doubleheader from the Senators, with Charlie Zink and Mark Deschenes both pitching well in a 2-0 victory in the nightcap, while the offense shined in a 9-6 victory in the opener. This, coupled with Sunday's 12-5 victory over Bowie, has the Sea Dogs back on track with a three-game winning streak and a two-game lead over New Hampshire in the EL North. The Dogs and the Senators are scheduled for another doubleheader today as they work their way through a six-game series this week.

Also, Portland officially lost two home dates, as two of the four games rained out against Binghamton at the end of May were rescheduled in Binghamton. This is because the Mets only come to Portland one more time this season, and there are rules about playing too many doubleheaders in a row. There just isn't enough time in the schedule to play the games in Portland. This is unfortunate for the Sea Dogs front office, as they have now officially lost four games, and even more gates and concessions, due to the poor weather this year.