Bowden is sharp in Sea Dogs victory

I saw my first game in awhile last night (my busy schedule, Sea Dogs on the road), a nice 9-3 victory for the Sea Dogs over the Akron Aeros. It was a rematch of last season's championship series, and though the teams are quite different now, both have a chance to return to the playoffs this year. The Aeros lead the EL South with a 38-27 record, and while the Sea Dogs are just one game above .500 and 11 games out of first place, they are tied with New Britain for second place in the EL North.

The Portland bats came alive for four home runs, but the story was the best AA performance to date for 20-year-old Michael Bowden. Bowden, who was clobbered last time out in Akron, and who had yet to really show off his potential, was in command from the start last night. He pitched 6.2 innings (his longest AA start) and allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out 8. The only blemish on his outing was in the fourth inning, when Jay Johnson failed to pick up a fliner by Argenis Reyes off the bat, allowing him to reach on a single. This was followed by a stolen base and a fielding error by Iggy Suarez on which Reyes came around to score. Bowden was charged with an earned run, but should have gotten out of the inning unblemished.

Portland hasn't hit a lot of home runs on the season. In fact, coming into last night, Eric Crozier was the only player on the roster with more than two. There is the very strong likelihood that only one player will reach double-digit homers on the season, and even that's tenuous considering the fact that Crozier is simply filling space on the roster and is hitting a meager .224 with one-and-a-half times as many strikeouts as hits. A midseason promotion of Aaron Bates, who has 17 dingers in hitter-friendly Lancaster, could spell the end of Crozier's playing time. So it was quite surprising that for Dogs went deep last night. Dusty Brown charged into second place on the team with his third home run in the fourth, then Zach Borowiak and Bryan Pritz both hit flyballs over the short wall in left during a five-run sixth inning. Pritz' shot was particularly impressive, as it might have traveled 320 feet. Crozier, feeling pressure from Brown, hit a legitimate shot in the 8th for his sixth homer and the final two Portland runs.

Notes:

• Bowden was terrific, but it was difficult to get a read for his stuff as the Hadlock radar gun was all messed up. He throws a heavy sinker in the low-90's, which was evidenced by his 9-2 groundout/flyout ratio. I couldn't tell much else about what he was throwing. He tried a couple of curveballs that were well out of the zone and didn't impress much. According to his profile, he has a 12-6 curve, tight slider and plus changeup. Without the radar, however, I couldn't tell much about what he was throwing effectively.
  
• Sloppy play, with five errors committed on the evening. Akron starting first baseman Jordan Brown was charged with a "life isn't fair" error when he lost a throw from third base in the setting sun.
  
• There was also a tough twilight sky, which led to Johnson misplaying Reyes' hit in the fourth inning. The sky was bad enough that a ball landed about 15 feet away from me and I had no idea where it was until it hit the concrete.
• Akron CF Trevor Crowe was ejected for arguing strikes in the fifth, which led to four position changes in the bottom of the inning.
  
• Rehabbing major leaguer Cliff Politte started the game for the Aeros, walking one and striking out the side in his only inning of work.
• Former Boston pitcher, and current Red Sox minor league instructor Al Nipper was in attendance to watch his young prospect perform.
• I forgot my camera, so no pix of one of the top prospects in the system!