At times it was soggy, and at times it was sloppy. Played under wet, cool conditions, the second game of the season for the Portland Sea Dogs became their first loss.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats scored three runs in the first inning Saturday afternoon at Hadlock Field and wound up with a rain-shortened 3-0 victory in front of an announced crowd of 7,368.
The game started late after a 66-minute rain delay, and the game was stopped in the bottom of the sixth inning as another line of showers passed over Portland. With heavy rain still falling, the game was called 44 minutes later.
“We kind of knew going into it we had limited time to do it. You start getting the threat right there, and sure enough, it pours,” Sea Dogs Manager Chad Epperson said.
Portland starter Victor Santos struggled early, giving up four singles and a walk in the first inning. The righty fared better after that, retiring 12 of the final 15 batters he faced.
“I don’t think they hit him well at all. They got three seeing-eye singles. The only thing where I’d be critical is, he got a little changeup happy early on, but I don’t think he was hit hard at all. I thought he did a real nice job after that getting back to his fastball and getting the changeup in play as well,” Epperson said.
That one shaky inning was enough for the Fisher Cats, who scored all three runs after Tanner Morris was thrown out at the plate by Portland left fielder Tyler Dearden for the second out of the inning as he tried to score on a Spencer Horwitz single.
Sebastian Espino followed with another single, and when Dearden overran the ball, both Orelvis Martinez and Horwitz scored and Espino ended up on third base. Will Robertson’s single drove in Espino.
After Boston acquired Santos from the Phillies in mid-July trade last season, he went 4-2 with a 2.58 earned-run average in 10 appearances for the Sea Dogs, including eight starts.
“He knows what he’s doing out there. I think sometimes you may have a game plan going on in your head, and maybe today it was getting his changeup in the mix. Overall, the guy gives you a solid five innings there,” Epperson said.
After the first inning, the only other jam Santos faced came in the fifth, when the Fisher Cats had two runners on with one out. Martinez hit a soft line drive up the middle, but it was caught by diving second baseman Christian Koss, who then flipped the ball to shortstop David Hamilton to double off Morris.
The Sea Dogs created few offensive chances, with just four base runners through the first five innings. Hamilton led off the first with a walk and stole second but was stranded there. Brandon Howlett hit a two-out double in the second inning, and Pedro Castellanos was left at second in the fourth after singling and advancing on a wild pitch.
Fisher Cats starting pitcher Nick Fraze went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out four.
“(Fraze) was getting his off-speed (pitches) in play early and kind of teasing us with the fastball a little bit. I thought the third inning, we had three really good at-bats, they just made the plays on us,” Epperson said. “It’s one of those games, you know the rain’s coming, you’re trying to hurry up.”
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