Losing Ugly

My first Sea Dogs game of the season last night, and it got ugly quick. The second batter of the game hit a two-run home run, and the Binghamton Mets never trailed after that. Starter Ryne Miller had nothing, giving up five hits and four walks in three innings, though he did manage to strike out five. He also managed to walk the bases loaded and then clear them with a grand slam courtesy of Jose Coronado. The bullpen didn't fare any better, and manager Arnie Beyler decided that second baseman Nate Spears would be a good option in the ninth. He wasn't, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis unloaded one of the longest home runs you'll ever see to cap off the scoring.

Nieuwenhuis, with five hits, nearly matched the Sea Dogs total of six. Ryan Kalish had two hits to lead the Portland "attack." I was excited to see Lars Anderson hit, because early indications are that he's bounced back from his horrible season last year. But he looked just the same to me, with a walk worked in between two groundouts and a strike out. Highly-touted Cuban shortstop Jose Iglesias was a disappointment, hacking his way to three strikeouts in four at bats.

At least the weather was nice.

Drabek Stymies Sea Dogs

Better than Halladay?

Kyle Drabek made a name for himself this summer as being a pitcher that the Philadelphia Phillies were unwilling to trade to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace Roy Halladay. Thursday night at Hadlock Field he demonstrated why that might be, throwing seven shutout innings in Reading's 6-0 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs.

Drabek is still just 21 years old, but pitching well in his first taste of AA. He mixes hard off-speed stuff with a tantalizing, mid-90's fastball (topping out at 96 mph on Thursday). By "tantalizing," I mean that he got several Sea Dogs batters to chase his four-seamer, resulting in several popups, if not outright swings and misses. His offspeed stuff was effective, if less impressive. He's got a curveball (I think) that he throws in the low-mid 80's, which he spotted well. With his stuff, I would expect more Ks than he's featured. He's averaged about 7 per 9 innings pitched since his promotion to AA, but only had four last night. Regardless, for a guy who returned from Tommy John surgery about a year ago, he looks pretty good.

The Sea Dogs didn't look quite as good, committing four errors on the night that led to five unearned runs. Worse, two of the errors were the result of throws that should not have been attempted in the first place. Pitcher Felix Doubront was strong early, facing the minimum of 9 batters on 37 pitches through three innings. After that he struggled with his command, throwing 62 more pitches and failing to get out of the fifth. His defense could have gotten him out of the fifth unscored-upon, but he wasn't without fault. It wasn't hard to notice that what had been 3-4 pitch at bats were becoming 5-6 pitch at bats.

Feel-good story Daniel Nava impressed with his bat (2-4 with a double) and his hustle in beating out a double-play ball. He looks like a guy who could have a future in the game. The other bright spot was Lars Anderson. An uber-prospect who has struggled for most of the year, Anderson hit the ball with authority on Thursday, with a line-shot wall ball double accompanied by a warning track fly out to right field. It doesn't sound like much, but I've seen too many nights this year in which he gathered a walk, a K and a couple of tappers, to not be somewhat encouraged by a couple of hard-hit balls.

Kason Returns

After three years at higher levels, including a sojourn to the Texas Rangers organization, old friend Kason Gabbard has returned to the Portland Sea Dogs. And it's clear he doesn't belong here.

Gabbard, trying to return from arm injuries, clearly should not be pitching in AA right now. Tuesday night he put in a performance that made even his worst Mr. Hyde outings look Cy Young-worthy. This is the complete record of his start

BB
BB
HBP
K (guy swung at two curveballs in the dirt. He had no business taking the bat of his shoulder.)
BB (score 1-0)
2B (score 4-0)
BB
HR (score 7-0)
2B
HBP

Blake Maxwell mercifully was called upon while Brandon Roberts was being attended to after being hit in the head (he stayed in played the whole game), and he stifled the rally.

Not quite enough fog to obscure the view.

I've never been a huge fan of Kason Gabbard, but he had turned himself into a pretty decent pitcher. This was sad to see. There was no life on any of his pitches, and he had absolutely no idea where the strike zone was. The numbers were boggling.

36 pitches, 9 strikes
Of the 9 strikes, four were taken and five were swings
Of the five swings, two were missed and three went for extra bases

Looked at another way, Gabbard averaged less than a strike per batter, and as many pitches hit batters as resulted in a swing and a miss.

After they were put in a 7-0 hole, there wasn't much hope for the Sea Dogs on this foggy, drizzly night. Jon Still and Josh Reddick each contributed home runs to account for all of Portland's scoring, and after the first inning it was a pretty crisply-played game. But the fall of Kason Gabbard was the story for the evening.

Tazawa

Tazawa Delivers

I got my first look at the Japanese sensation Junichi Tazawa Tuesday night, and I have to say that my overall impression based on just this one game is positive but somewhat mixed.

First of all, the line was solid: 7 IP, 5 hits. 2 runs. no walks, 3 punchouts.

He was far from overpowering, however, as there were a lot of hard hit balls and more great defensive plays than I'm used to seeing.

His stuff doesn't look overpowering, either. His fastball tops out at about 92, but seems to have some good sinking action on it. He recorded 10 ground ball outs vs. 8 fly outs. He also throws a slider and a curve ball. (Slider AND curve ball? Those crazy Japanese!) Slider in the low-mid 80's and curve in the 70's. He throws the off speed stuff a lot, which I wasn't expecting. According to Soxprospects.com, he also has a forkball with some potential. I know I saw this pitch once (and thought, "Wow! What was that?") - mid-80's with a wicked break. If he can throw that thing for strikes, it'll be a helluva changeup. I don't recall seeing it other times, but maybe it looked different because it went into the dirt.

He threw a lot of strikes, though maybe not the greatest command inside the zone (see prior comment about hard-hit balls). He didn't work too many deep counts in the game. I had him at 100 pitches exactly over seven innings, but I think it was 72 through six, so a crisp 12 pitches/inning.

He's definitely good, and at an appropriate level for his age (22). I'm not sure I see an obvious top-of-the-rotation arm, but I can see him as a mid-rotation guy. And if he can command all the offspeed stuff and throw it for strikes when he needs to, he can definitely keep hitters off balance and perhaps succeed at the top of the rotation, a la Greg Maddux. (Not that I'm comparing him to Maddux, or course. He won't be nearly as good as Maddux, but he's an example of a guy who had lots of success without the plus heat.)

Through 11 starts, Tazawa has thrown 61.1 innings with a 2.79 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 2.5 BB9 and greater than 3:1 K:BB ratio. He's definitely one of the better pitchers in the EL this year, and I can see him warranting a July promotion to Pawtucket. But I don't think Boston will see much of him before 2011.

Dogs Walk off With a Win

Bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth. The Portland Sea Dogs and the Connecticut Defenders are tied at two. At bat is Boston's top prospect - one of the top 10 or 15 in all of baseball this year according to most - slugging first baseman Lars Anderson. The crowd is on its feet. The biggest pitch of the night is on its way. Anderson cocks his bat and.....

watches it miss the strike zone! Ball four! Sea Dogs win!

OK, so it's not the most clutchiest-sounding finish for such a dramatic situation. A grand slam certainly would have made (what was left of) the crowd go much more nuts than it did. But a win is a win, and the finish illustrates one of the reasons Anderson is so highly regarded - his patience at the plate. Sure, he's a big strapping kid with lots of power, but there are lots of those kinds of players out there. Anderson realizes that you don't have to hit every pitch out of the ballpark to win games. He's not afraid to take a walk, and this combination of on-base skill and pure power are what sets him apart from the rest. He's 21 years old and already in AA. He's got a bright future ahead of him.

Good seats still available

Also impressing last night was 22-year-old center fielder Josh Reddick. Reddick isn't as big as Anderson, and he's more athletic. Reddick is also much more aggressive at the plate. Contrary to the Red Sox organizational philosophy of being patient at the plate, Reddick rarely walks. However, he has a sweet swing, hits the ball squarely and has surprising power. Reddick was 4-5 with a double and a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 8th. Reddick also has good speed, which enabled him to leg out an infield single with two outs in the 9th, helping to set up Anderson's heroics. Reddick's legs also enabled him to track down a long fly ball off the bat of Connecticut's Bobby Felmy in the sixth inning, saving extra bases.

The Sea Dogs got some good pitching as well. Starter Adam Mills gave up two runs over the first five innings, but he was extremely efficient in throwing only 56 pitches. Also efficient was reliever Richie Lentz. After allowing the aforementioned deep fly ball by Felmy, Lentz overpowered the next five Connecticut batters with his blazing fastball. He recorded five strikeouts while throwing only three pitches out of the strike zone. Reliever Chris Province collected the win by allowing only one baserunner to reach (on an error) over the last two frames.

Top pitching prospect Junichi Tazawa enjoys the Portland weather while charting pitches.

Though it was the second game of the season, the crowd was of the typical April Friday variety, with about 3,000 in attendance. Fortunately the weather was warmer than I expected, with temps in the mid 50's at game time and mid 40's by the time the final run scored. Here's hoping the mild air is the norm this spring!

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.

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.

Ellsbury Recalled, Dogs Lose Thursday

Ellsbury photo cribbed from Seadogs.com.

The Portland Sea Dogs lost Thursday night to the Bowie Baysox, in what would prove to be the final AA game for top prospect Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury went out in typical style, going 2-4 at the plate with a walk and a stolen base, moving his final stats to 452/518/644-0-13 with 8 steals and 13 runs scored. Ellsbury also showed his ranginess in center field, tracking down any ball that came close by, however it was not enough to avoid a 7-3 Portland loss at the hands of the Bowie Baysox.

In his AAA debut on Friday night, it was more of the same for Ellsbury. 1-4 with two walks and two runs scored. David Murphy, moved to left field and apparently feeling the heat from below with regard to his spot on the organizational depth chart, had four hits in Pawtucket's 11-inning loss.

Back to Thursday night's game, it was a bit of a tough-luck loss for Matt Goodson. Goodson had the Baysox off balance for much of his five innings, striking out 10 with his off speed offerings, particularly a very good changeup. Unfortunately, Goodson's control left him in the fifth inning, as he walked two to load the based for Luis Hernandez. Hernanez delivered his second consecutive RBI single, a liner to left that skipped under Corey Keylor's glove and resulted in four runs and a Bowie lead. Portland was unable to get any rallies going after that point.

Now that Ellsbury is gone, this is a very ordinary Portland team. Jeff Corsaletti is the natural guy to move into the leadoff spot, as he has good speed and draws a lot of walks, resulting in a very good .400 OBP to this point of the season. However, this team needs Jeff Natale (703 OPS) and Jed Lowrie (508 OPS) to start making things happen, because Keylor can't be the only guy hitting in the middle of the lineup, and there aren't a lot of quality bats at bottom of the order. Also, beyond Clay Buchholtz and Charlie Zink, the rotation has been a disappointment. Andrew Dobies and Tommy Hottovey showed some promise after they were called up late last season, but both have ERA's over 6.00 so far this year. Goodson is probably the least touted member of the rotation, but he has outpitched Dobies and Hottovey thus far. The bullpen has also been inconsistent at best so far.

I think there will be a lot of entertaining games to watch this season, but unless a few guys turn it around fairly soon or Michael Bowden get called up to team with Buchholtz for awhile, I don't think this team will put in a strong challenge for the playoffs.

Finally Some Sunshine

After sitting through the rain and cold on Friday night (and the cold a couple of weeks ago), I along with a few thousand other fans, was finally rewarded with some decent weather Saturday afternoon. The Sea Dogs felt good about the weather, taking their second straight from New Hampshire with a 10-5 victory. Cory Keylor was the star of the show this afternoon, going 3-5 with a home run and 5 RBI. Old friend Charlie Zink was equally strong on the rubber, pitching six shutout innings, allowing only five base runners and striking out five.

Portland faced another of New Hampshire's top pitchers, lefty David Purcey. Purcey's prospect shine has dimmed a bit since he first came to New Hampshire a couple of years ago. He's still a good stuff/poor command guy, though he does seem to have a better handle on his curve ball these days. (He also has slimmed down a bit since he first appeared in the league.) Purcey alternated good innings with others where he allowed Portland hitters to string together base runners. His biggest problem was an inability to handle Keylor.

While Zink was impressive, Bryce Cox was not. This was my first look at Cox, who is listed as Boston's #4 prospect. Cox struggled mightily in throwing strikes, and when he did throw them they were hit hard, even for outs. In 1 1/3 innings, Cox walked three, hit a batter, and allowed three hits, including a towering three-run home run over the scoreboard in left-center field by David Smith. Mike James was called upon to get the last five outs of the game.

Notes:

• Jacoby Ellsbury was a bit of a disappointment, getting only one hit (an RBI double) and one walk. Hey, when a guy comes into the game hitting .468, you expect better.
  
• This version of the Sea Dogs is going to bother opposing pitchers. They take a lot of pitches and draw a lot of walks. When aboard, they run the bases aggressively and make things happen with their speed. In addition to Ellsbury, Jeff Corsaletti is a guy who particularly relies on his speed to make things happen. Corsaletti has already shown an ability to lay down a bunt along with avoiding double plays by hustling down the line. It's the variety of small ball that fans find enjoyable.
• Case in point on taking pitches - out of 38 batters for the Sea Dogs in the game, only three swung at the first pitch, and only a handful more swung before taking a strike.
  
• New Hampshire CF Dustin Majewski is another speedy guy who takes a lot of walks. However, he hasn't been too successful in hitting the ball when he doesn't walk. Since arriving in AA in the middle of last season, he has nearly as many walks as hits. You can do that if you're Barry Bonds. If you struggle to hit .230 in AA, pitchers won't let you get away with the walks for long.
  

Dogs Play Despite Rain, Defeat NH

After causing seven of the first ten home games to be postponed (and the other three to be played in wintry temperatures), mother nature finally cooperated and allowed the Portland Sea Dogs to play the first two games of the latest home stand. Well, sort of cooperated. Friday night's game was played in a steady drizzle/rain and a temperature around 40 degrees, but team officials said, emphatically, "we're playing the damn game!"

The Sea Dogs were undeterred, and overcame the rain and a brief failure of a light bank to defeat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6-2. Jacoby Ellsbury was the star of the show, reaching base five times on four hits and a hit by pitch, and scoring two runs. Ellsbury's batting average stood at .468 following the game. Portland faced off against New Hampshire's top prospect (#3 in the Toronto system) Rickey Romero. Romero was OK, though it's tough to make much judgment given the conditions. The lefty featured a 90-mph fastball and a sharp curve. Unfortunately for him, the curve ball often failed to travel the requisite 60 feet, 6 inches, and the balls in the dirt beat up catcher Robinzon Diaz and contributed to a lot of activity on the basepaths from Sea Dogs runners. Diaz didn't help matters much by short-hopping every throw to second. Portland runners finished with three steals, one with an additional advance due to a Diaz error, and two bases taken on wild pitches.

Portland pitcher Matt Goodson was equally OK. I was most impressed by his sinker, which resulted in 10 ground ball outs (one DP) vs. 3 fly ball outs. Portland's bullpen received solid efforts from Kyle Jackson and Beau Vaughan, both of whom pitched two shutout innings in relief. New Hampshire's bullpen struggled, particularly in the bottom of the eighth innings. Zack Borowiak started things off with a single that coincided with the failure of the lights behind the first base dugout. Following a 15-minute delay (that felt like a half hour for those of us sitting in the rain), the Dogs took advantage of a loss of command by Cats reliever Jo Matumoto. Matumoto walked #9 batter Bryan Pritz and allowed a bunt single by Ellsbury before walking in two runs. Tracy Thorpe was then hailed from the bullpen, and he immediately issued another bases-loaded pass, giving Portland a four-run cushion for the ninth inning. Vaughn then dispatched the side without incident.

Notes:

• Ellsbury is really impressive, and I don't suspect he'll be in Portland for long. He has tons of speed, and his game is built around it. In addition to his bunt grounder, he had an infield hit in the 6th. He also turns singles into doubles and causes a lot of commotion on the basepaths. He's got some pop in his bat, but I don't think that he'll ever be a big home run hitter. He also covers a lot of ground in center field. He's really a prototype center fielder / leadoff hitter. Ellsbury currently leads Portland in BA, OBP, SLG, runs, RBI, doubles and stolen bases. It's looking like he's too good for this league.
  
• Eric Crozier looked terrible at the plate in striking out four times from the cleanup spot, but he still managed to finagle a walk to knock in Portland's fifth run of the game.
  
• New Hampshire reliever Jean Machi is a dead ringer for Rich Garces and Edgar Martinez, therefore worthy of the nickname El Guapo III.
  

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.
  

Chilly Win for Sea Dogs

I was finally able to get to my first baseball game of the year, and it was a happy ending to a cold night, as the Sea Dogs prevailed 8-5. Eric Crozier hit his first Sea Dogs home run to give the team the lead in the fifth inning and the bullpen was able to hold on. According to the box score, the game time temperature was 43 degrees, but it got a lot colder than that as the evening progressed. The saving grace was that there was no precipitation or heavy wind. The game was a bit sloppy, but I think that the weather had a lot to do with that.

I'll post a full report this evening when I have more time.

Eastern League Champions!!!!

They wouldn't put it on a message voard if it wasn't true

The Portland Sea Dogs won their first-ever Eastern League championship with an 8-5 victory over the Akron Aeros on Sunday afternoon. Devern Hansack was masterful for eight innings on the mound, allowing three runs while striking out 8 and not walking any batters and cruising to the victory. The Aeros scored two runs in the 9th for the third day in a row, but this time the Sea Dogs had a safe five-run cushion and held on for the victory.

Celebrate!

The Sea Dogs took control of this game early, with four run rallies in both the second and third innings. Following Saturday's game, in which the top of the order did all the damage, this afternoon it was the 5-9 hitters leading the way. Chris Durbin, Bryan Myrow and David Bacani each scored two runs, with Myrow striking a two-run homer in the second and Bacani drawing two walks and scoring from second with aggressive baserunning on Jacoby Ellsbury's infield single in the second inning. Shortstop Keoni De Renne struck the decisive blow with bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the third. The Sea Dogs took advantage of one of the "facts of life" of minor league baseball, wherein Akron ace Adam Miller (15-6, 2.75 in the regular season) had reached an innings limit set by the Indians and was not allowed to pitch the finale. The Sea Dogs took advantage of replacement starter Ronald "Bear" Bay, who allowed 8 hits and three walks in just three innings pitched. Reliever J.D. Martin was nearly perfect in relief, surrendering just one walk while striking out six in four innings pitched.

The crowd was much more subdued than the prior two evenings. Friday and Saturday nights featured large, festive crowds anticipating a Sea Dogs championship. However it appears that the heartbreaking nature of the two Portland losses took the enthusiasm out of the crowd, and there was a much smaller turnout this afternoon, with an announced attendance of 3,937. Combined with the big early lead opened up by the Sea Dogs, the atmosphere resembled more of a typical midsummer game than a playoff contest, at least until the patented last-inning rally. After that it was party time.

Hoisting the trophy.

Brandon Moss was presented with the MVP trophy. Moss had a quiet game five, with a single, a walk, and reaching on an error, but he had five homers and 10 RBI for the playoffs, including three home runs in this series. Hansack, who had two wins in the finals and allowed just three runs on 11 hits (with no walks and 14 K's) would have been anther fine choice for the trophy.

Another Heartbreaking Loss

For the second consecutive night, the Portland Sea Dogs bullpen gave up two runs in the 9th inning to send the Akron Aeros to victory in the EL Championship series. All the marbles will be decided this afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

The Sea Dogs had a nice rally from a 4-0 deficit, led by two more home runs by Brandon Moss, who now has 5 HR and 10 RBI in the postseason. Moss, who turned 23 yesterday, has been a man posessed. Unfortunately, so has Aeros 2B Brandon Pinckney, who had his second consecutive four-hit game, and drove home the tying run in the top of the 9th with a single that sent leadoff hitter Trevor Crowe to third base and set up Ryan Goleski's game-winning sacrifice fly.

The late-inning collapse was disappointing, but it was equally disappointing that a few mistakes by Portland earlier in the game were equally costly. A potential rally was quashed in the second when Luis Jimenez channeled the spirit of Kevin Millar and was thrown out by about 20 feet in trying to advance on a Dusty Brown single to left field. In the third inning, Portland second baseman David Bacani dropped Crowe's popup, which resulted in a two-base error and set up an RBI single for Goleski. In the 4th, old friend Jared "the Wicket" Sandberg hit a pop fly to right that either Bacani or Jimenez might have caught had they not collided. One hit later, #9 hitter Wyatt Toregas hit a three-run blast over the left field wall for a 4-0 lead.

And while I don't want to get into the habit of second-guessing the manager, there were a couple of quirky moves that I don't necessarily agree with. First is the handling of the bullpen. For the second night in a row, Todd Claus removed a pitcher who had thrown two effective, and very economical innings to bring someone else in for the 9th. On Friday night, it was Barry Hertzler who had retired the Aeros on 16 pitches who was removed in favor of Brett Evert, who proceeded to allow hits to the first three batters he faced. Last night, Kyle Jackson threw 17 pitches to retire five batters (six outs) before Claus brought in Hertzler in the 9th. Hertzler got ahead of #8 batter Alex Ochoa, then threw four straight balls for a walk. After Ochoa advanced on a ground out, Claus ordered a walk of leadoff hitter Crowe, which served to both put the lead run on base and bring up pistol-hot Brandon Pinckney. As reported above, the move backfired.

It's too bad that the Sea Dogs lost a game that they by all rights should have won, but they have one final chance this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. I'm going to that one, too, but I've changed my luck with box seats in Section 110. Portland's luck is going to change, too. Staff ace Dervern Hansack will be on the mound for the Sea Dogs. Hope to see you there!

Sweep bid falls short

About two feet short, to be more precise. That's how close "L'il Papi" Luis Jimenez came to emulating his namesake and sending the Sea Dogs to victory on Friday night. Jimenez hit a towering fly ball on a 3-2 pitch from Akron Aeros pitcher Tony Sipp to the deepest part of Hadlock Field, only to see Aeros center fielder Trevor Crowe reel it in right in front of the 400 foot marker. Jimenez was attempting to save the day after the Sea Dogs allowed two runs in the top of the 9th and send Portland to its first-ever Eastern League championship. Following Chris Durbin's strikeout, Akron had a 6-4 victory and fans were sent to the ticket offices to buy seats to tonight's game four.

The game was hardly an thing of beauty, featuring five errors, three hit batsmen and 22 men left on base. Neither starting pitcher made it through the fifth inning, and the Akron bullpen gave away a lot of free baserunners with wild pitching to allow the Sea Dogs to crawl back to a 4-4 tie, before Brett Evert returned the favor and the lead in the 9th. However, the stands were packed (a Sea Dogs playoff record attendance of 7,195) and vocal, and a true playoff atmosphere persisted. Brandon Moss hit his third homer of the playoffs and added an RBI single to lead Portland's offense, while Akron was paced by second baseman Brandon Pinkney (4 hits, 2 runs) and DH Brian Barton (3 hits, 2 RBI, 2 stolen bases).

Game 4 is tonight at 6:00 pm. I'm off to the game shortly, otherwise I'd have a more complete post for Game 3.