Dogs First Win, part two

Good seats still available

Above was the scene at Hadlock Field, as a sparse crowd braved the cold temperatures (43 degrees at game time - hah!) to watch the final game of the series between the Sea Dogs and the New Britain Rock Cats. Those few who stayed the full nine witnessed a rather humdrum game won by the Sea Dogs 8-5 for their first victory of the season.

This was a game without a lot of intrigue. Perhaps part of that is because I didn't do my homework to see who on the Rock Cats is a top prospect. Perhaps another part of that is because I am a fan of good pitching, and last night wasn't a good night to be a pitcher. It appeared that the pitchers were struggling to get a feel for their breaking stuff, whereas the wind blowing out made for a small field. The hard throwers could benefit from nerve-jangling inside pitches on a cold night like this, but I didn't see too much of that happening. Neither starting pitcher lasted more than four innings, with Portland starter Andrew Dobies taking to the bench after just three innings and 70 pitches thrown.

In taking a quick look at the New Britain roster, along with John Sickels' list, it appears that there are a couple of decent pitchers on the Rock Cats roster, which makes sense in Minnesota's pitching-rich system. None of these guys (Anthony Swarzak, Brian Deunsing or Jose Mijares) pitched in this game, but one position player (3B David Winfree, #19 on Sickels' list with a "C" grade) started as DH. Winfree had an OK game, with a pair of identical ground ball singles between third and short and a pair of strikeouts on the night.

Portland's top position player prospect was in the lineup of course. Jacoby Ellsbury had a decent game, with two hits (including a double) and an RBI. His double was actually hit pretty softly, while his RBI single was a rocket off the glove of third baseman Gil Velazquez. He's looking good early, and I won't be surprised if he is promoted prior to the All Star game.

Notes:

• According to the message board, Velazquez is in his 7th Eastern League season. That's a lot of time in AA - not really good enough to be promoted, but good enough (and versatile enough) to keep a job.
  
• Portland 3B Andrew Pinckney got a lot of action. Sometimes he looked sloppy, sometimes he looked good. I don't suspect he's as good a fielder as Chad Spann was last year, but he seems to have pretty good range. It's hard to tell based on just one game, of course, and a cold one at that.
  
• New Britain cleanup hitter Matt Allegra didn't put a single ball in play all night, with two walks and three strikeouts. He did manage seven foul balls on the evening.
  
• Tough to tell who Portland's closer is supposed to be. Bryce Cox is the top prospect in the bullpen and Kyle Jackson is another highly-regarded reliever. Mike James collected 25 saves in Wilmington last season. So naturally it was big Beau Vaughan on for the ninth inning last night to pick up his first-ever professional save.
  
• The Red Sox update board, in previewing last night's Fenway debut for Daisuke Matsuzaka, boasted the following as the pitching matchup: Dice-K vs. Ichiro.
  
• Finally, the promotion of the year - a lucky fan will win $25,000 in home repairs if a Portland pitcher throws a perfect game during a regular-season game at Hadlock. I'm surprised that they didn't say, "and it can't be a 7-inning game in a double header, either." That's a pretty safe $25,000.