The Portland Sea Dogs took down the Somerset Patriots 12-7 on Wednesday night at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridewater, New Jersey clinching their first Double A Eastern League playoff spot since 2014. Portland needed two wins out of the six game series to wrap that up, and did so with wins in each of the first two nights.
Somerset (NY Yankees) took their only lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Austin Wells to make it 1-0. Portland though struck for three in the third and would never trail after that. Wilyer Abreu hit a line drive two-run homerun to right field, and Niko Kavadas added an RBI single in that frame. Harrison Bader crushed a solo homer for the Patriots in the last of the third, his first long ball as a member of the Yankees organization to slice it to 3-2. The guests put up a four spot to go up 7-2 in the fourth as Tyler Dearden hit a solo homer to right center, Abreu slapped an RBI single to right and would score on a wild pitch, and Christian Koss also hit a solo homerun to left field. A former Sea Dog, Jeisson Rosario, cut it to 7-4 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run homerun to right center for Somerset. Portland would pull away in the seventh, as Ceddanne Rafaela came up with one of the bigger hits of the season. Dearden led off with a walk, before Izzy Wilson struckout swinging. David Hamilton then reached on a fielders choice and Abreu walked to load the bases. Rafaela was next up and took the first pitch he saw from reliever Nick Ernst over the wall in left center for a grandslam, his 12th homer on the year to help clinch a spot in the postseason as the second half division winner. The Sea Dogs have now won 15 of their last 16 games.
Portland pounded out 15 hits in the victory. Abreu had three hits and three RBI, Rafaela had two with four knocked in, and Dearden had two with a pair driven in. Wilson and Koss also had two hits a piece. Jacob Wallace (8-2) earned the win on the hill with 1.0 perfect inning in relief of starter Brian Van Belle. The Sea Dogs will finish off this last regular season series with four more games against the Patriots in New Jersey, before returning home to Hadlock Field to host Somerset in game one of a best of three Northeast Divisional Playoff on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Game two and a possible game three would be back in New Jersey at TD Bank Ballpark. In the last playoff appearance for Portland in 2014, they lost in a decisive fifth game in the Divisional Round to Binghamton. The only Eastern League Title for the ‘Dogs was back in 2006.
