Dogs Collapse Late

The Sea Dogs looked to collect their first win of the series and reduce their magic number to six last night, carrying a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning. However two walks allowed by reliever Jim Mann, combined with a bloop single and a ground ball that the defense couldn't turn quickly enough for a double play surrendered by Edgar Martinez, allowed the Thunder to tie the game and eventually collect a 4-3 win in 12 innings last night. It was a disappointing loss for the Sea Dogs, who hit the ball hard and raced out to a 2-0 first inning lead off Trenton starter Eric Schmitt. After that it was a series of squandered opportunities, as the Dogs left 13 runners on base. The loss wasted an impressive effort by David Pauley, who started off with four perfect innings that consisted of one grounder to first, five grounders to second and six strikeouts. In all, Pauley pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed just four hits and one run, a solo home run by Michael Coleman, how has gone deep in each game of the series. Charlie Zink, pitching just two days after his 6-inning relief outing on Monday, was charged with the loss.

Scorer's Notes:

• Some excitement/confusion in the 10th inning. Melky Cabrera was batting with runners on first and second and two men out. On an 0-1 count, Martinez threw a pitch that looked, from my perspective, to be well out of the strike zone. The umpire saw it differently and called strike two. Cabrera disagreed and argued with the ump. The ump instructed Cabrera to get back into the batters box twice, and Cabrera failed to do so. The ump then called strike three and the Sea Dogs ran off the field while Cabrera and Thunder manager Bill Masse argued with the umpires. Both were ejected, Cabrera returned to the dugout, where he decided that it would be appropriate to return his bat and helmet to the playing surface. Meanwhile, Masse was jumping up and down and throwing his cap. Highly entertaining, other than the fact that it was eating into sleep time at this point. Then, bizarrely, as the Thunder players took the field with their manager still arguing, Cabrera did an "act natural" bit and tried to casually take his position in center field. The first base ump kindly suggested that Cabrera should instead be moving toward the Portland Expo, where the clubhouses are.
• One of the frustrations of the developmental mission of a minor league team came into play. Hotshot prospect and ace reliever Craig Hansen is pitching primarily on a defined schedule. Having worked Tuesday, he was not scheduled to pitch last night, therefore he did not come in to close the door in the 9th inning. Both Mann and Martinez have been terrific and they were perfectly capable of getting the job done, but it's kind of frustrating to give up a lead when your best pitcher is sitting on the bench.
• Hanley Ramirez, whose star has dropped a bit in the buzz about Boston's prospects, is making a late-season push to remind us all how good he really is. Ramirez drove in Portland's first run with an RBI single, then stole second and third bases before scoring on Jeremy West's single. Ramirez also hit a two-out double to left in the bottom of the 11th, but David Murphy was unable to get him home.
• Trenton's bullpen pitched effectively for 8 innings. Michael Brunet collected the win in blazing down the Portland lineup with his 94-mph fastball.
• West, who entered August with just 28 RBI on the season, has a chance to double that total by the end of the month. West knocked in two runs last night and now has 51 for the season. According to the Sea Dogs web site, his 23 August RBI are five short of the franchise record for one month.
• Matt Van Der Bosch made his Portland debut after being promoted from Wilmington. The diminutive outfielder was 2-4, including a bunt single, with a walk. He was the DH and batted ninth (one of my favorite minor league traditions).
• It was good to see friends and former co-workers Brian and Rod at separate points during the game.