Portland, Me- The Portland Sea Dogs entering this week having won 18 of their last 19 games, had lost the first three of a six game set with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. That changed on Saturday though as Portland swept a pair of seven inning contests over New Hampshire at Hadlock Field.
In game one which was a makeup of a rain out from Wednesday night, the hosts scored four times in the sixth inning to take a 6-4 win. Portland had taken a 1-0 lead on a Ronaldo Hernandez solo homerun in the second inning, before New Hampshire went up 2-1 with a pair of runs in the third. Hudson Potts tied the game with a solo homer over the Maine Monster in left field in the fifth. The four spot in the sixth included a two-run double from Devlin Granberg, an RBI sacrifice fly from Potts, and an RBI single by Kole Cottam. Victor Santos (2-2) went the distance to pick up the win on the hill allowing four runs on nine hits with no walks and five strikeouts in the 7.0 innings. Granberg and Potts had two RBI each. Samad Taylor had two hits including a two-run homerun for the Fisher Cats, while Casey Lawrence (1-1) was tagged with the pitching defeat allowing five runs over 5.0 innings.
In the second game a wild pitch provided the only run Portland would need in a 1-0 victory to sweep the twinbill. With one out in the home fifth, Nick Sogard tripled and then Richard Cubillan walked. After Wil Dalton struck out, a wild pitch by New Hampshire pitcher Luis Quinones would score Sogard from third base. Andrew Politi (5-7) was solid on the hill in picking up the win allowing just three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Jose Disla got his first save by pitching the seventh. Portland, now 47-27 on the season, was held to two hits. New Hampshire had three hits, and Quinones (0-2) took the loss allowing one run (none earned) on two hits in 5.0 innings. The Fisher Cats drop to 34-39. The Sea Dogs, who still hold a one game lead for first place over Somerset in the Northern Division of the Northeast League, look to pick up a split of the six game series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
