Portland, Maine- The Portland Sea Dogs (13-15) fell 3-2 to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (16-10) in their Tuesday night series opener.
Nate Baez hit his third home run of the season in the fourth inning to put the Sea Dogs on the board, and Johanfran Garcia launched his fourth homer in the last week to tie the game in the seventh inning.
It was a pitcher’s duel from the beginning, as neither starter gave up more than two runs in their outings. New Hampshire scored first in the top of the first inning when Jace Bohrofen shot a fastball out of the ballpark for a solo home run.
New Hampshire added on in the top of the fourth as Cutter Coffey doubled to score Sean Keys, extending the Fisher Cats’ lead to 2-0.
Nate Baez recorded the first hit of the day for the Sea Dogs in the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run of his own, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
In the fifth inning, RHP Patrick Halligan came out of the bullpen with one out and two runners on. After loading the bases, he threw back-to-back strikeouts to work his way out of the jam. Overall, Halligan went 2.2 innings, allowing no runs on one hit with five strikeouts.
Johanfran Garcia crushed the ball 463 feet in the seventh inning to start a brand new ballgame. The ball traveled well beyond the ballpark at 114 mph off the bat.
The top of the eighth inning ended with Garcia throwing out Eddie Micheletti Jr. stealing second, giving Aaron Parker, who had been at an 0-2 count, a second chance at the plate in the ninth inning. He made the most of it, sending a solo home run over the Maine Monster in left field to put the Fisher Cats back out in front 3-2.
LHP Mason Olson (2-0, 5.84 ERA) earned the win, despite giving up the game-tying home run in the seventh inning. RHP Conor Larkin (S, 4) earned the one-inning save. RHP Cooper Adams (3-2, 5.00) took the loss, giving up one run on a home run in the ninth inning to catcher Aaron Parker.
RHP Blake Wehunt (0-1, 8.44 ERA) will start tomorrow for the Sea Dogs, facing off against New Hampshire’s RHP Richard Gallardo (2-0, 1.57 ERA). The Sea Dogs are celebrating Nurse Appreciation Night and Westbrook Community night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 pm.