Owens turns in another gem in Sea Dogs' victory
Left-hander fans five, scatters three hits over seven scoreless innings
For the second straight start, top prospect Henry Owens threw seven scoreless innings Thursday as Double-A Portland defeated New Britain, 2-1.
Owens, ranked No. 26 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, struck out five batters, walked two and gave up three hits. He threw a season-high 99 pitches.
Shortstop Deven Marrero, who has been in a slump of late, scored a run in the first inning to give Portland an early lead Tuesday. The Red Sox's No. 13 prospect finished the game 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
The Sea Dogs tacked on another run, and with Owens on the mound, didn't need much more offense. The left-hander has allowed just one run in his past four starts, a stretch of 22 innings that dates back to his May 14 start against New Britain.
Overall this season, Owens is 6-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 64 1/3 innings. He leads the Eastern League with 68 strikeouts and his 1.10 WHIP ranks fourth in the circuit.