Sluggish Sea Dogs lose to New Hampshire

Another cold Monday night at Hadlock, but not as cold as the prior one, thank goodness. It was, however, a long, sluggish affair for the Sea Dogs, who lost to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9-3 to end their long winning streak.

Michael Bowden was on the hill for Portland, and he turned in an "eh" performance overall. Bowden is a top pitching prospect in the Boston organization, but he's been decidedly mediocre in the games that I've seen. On Monday he featured a nice fastball in the low 90's, but his offspeed stuff was pretty mediocre, with a rolling curve ball that was fairly ineffective. Bowden had the most trouble with burly left fielder Jacob Butler, who tagged him for a two-run homer and a bases-loaded double. Butler finished with four hits on the night, as did right fielder Ryan Patterson, who is ranked as Toronto's #10 prospect by Baseball America.

Toronto's #1 prospect, Travis Snider, made his AA debut in the game. He got a single, but also struck out three times. The young slugger (only 20 years old) was called up from Dunedin after starting the year with four homers and a .557 slugging percentage in his first 17 games there.

Portland's offense didn't show much, other than first baseman Sandy Madera. The brawny Can-Am league reclamation project had two hits, including a double, and two walks on the evening.

Chad Rhoades pitched well out of the Sea Dogs bullpen once again. New Hamshire's Seth Overbey pitched three shutout innings in relief, allowing just two base runners. One was erased on a double play. The other was RF Jay Johnson, who greeted Overbey with a line drive to the gap in right-center, then was tagged out when he fell stricken with an injured leg between first and second base. Johnson was carried of the field by Madera and John Otness and was placed on the DL following the game.

Masterson vs. Bowden

John Sickels has a "prospect smackdown" between Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden. He projects the two youngsters, currently atop the Portland rotation, both to be #3-type starters in the big leagues.

Masterson has been more dominant than Bowden this year. In fact, the game I saw him pitch was the only time he allowed anybody to score. I saw Bowden pitch last night (more on that tonight or tomorrow), plus a few times last season, and he's overall been less impressive in the games that I have seen. He seems to alternate between putzing around and having truly dominant innings, with middling results. That said, his stats bear out that he has generally pitched better when I am not around. (The Curse of the Sea Blog?) And I have to remind myself that he is still very young for AA (just 21 years old) and holding his own at this level.

(I also have to remind myself that it's not easy to pitch in the cold weather these guys have been playing in thus far.)

I'm going to go with Sickels in saying that Masterson might be more of a sure thing, because he's got this nasty, bat-breaking sinker that will work at any level. Bowden's going to have to develop a bit more polish with his offspeed offerings, because a low-90's fastball that doesn't sink is a little easier for major league hitters to get good wood on. Bowden's changeup and curveball are already pretty good, so the potential for very goodness is there.

Back in the Sea Dogs Way

There are lots of things going on right now, but the baseball season has started again and I'm back to scoring Sea Dogs games - albeit in a reduced capacity this time around.

My first venture to Hadlock Field came Monday night, a 5-4, 11-inning affair with the Connecticut Defenders in cold, 40-degree weather. This was my first chance to see Justin Masterson in person. Masterson started last year in A Lancaster, where he pitched unreasonably well in the high desert jet stream. Upon arrival in Portland he had a few dominant starts before having a few rough outings to end the season.

Masterson started out well this year, winning the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week Award for the opening week of the season for allowing no runs in two starts. Masterson wasn't quite as dominant on Monday. He allowed two runs on five hits and his first two walks of the season. Regardless, his heavy sinker splintered several bats, and he couldn't have been fun to face in such cold weather. He was a lot better than opposing starter Adam coward, who was shelled in his three-inning stint. The Sea Dogs led 4-2 before Beau Vaughan gave up the tying runs in the top of the 8th, which ultimately sent the game into extra frames.

(Note: while this added a good half hour to the game and was very frustrating at the time, it was nothing compared to Wednesday's game, in which Jose Vaquedano allowed the tying run in the top of the 9th. Neither team scored again for the next 8 (eight!) innings. At 5 hours and 41 minutes, this broke the record for the previous longest game in franchise history.)

The Sea Dogs ultimately ended it in the 11th when two strikeouts were followed by two singles and a walk to load the bases. Iggy Suarez was the hero for drawing a walk-off wild pitch pitch from Defenders reliever Justin Hedrick.

Chad Rhoades impressed with 5 K's in 2 relief innings, and Vaquedano picked up the win with a perfect 11th inning, in which he didn't throw any pitches outside of the strike zone.