Dalbec does it again for Sea Dogs

Bobby Dalbec continued his assault on Binghamton pitching Saturday.
The second-ranked Red Sox prospect hit a pair of solo homers for the second straight game as Double-A Portland rallied for an 8-7 victory over the Rumble Ponies in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader at NYSEG Stadium.

It marked the first time Dalbec recorded multiple dingers in consecutive games, and it was his seventh career multi-homer game, third this season.
In 10 games against Binghamton this season, Dalbec is 11-for-36 (.306) with six extra-base hits, including four round-trippers, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored.
On Saturday, the 2016 fourth-round Draft pick put the Sea Dogs on the board in the first inning with a two-out shot to left-center field off starter Tommy Wilson. He struck out in the fourth, then chased the right-hander from the game with two outs in the fifth, lifting a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field wall to cut Portland's deficit to 6-5.
Dalbec struck out in the seventh against reliever Matt Blackham.
Gameday box score
With the Sea Dogs trailing, 7-5, Joey Curletta followed Dalbec and stroked a three-run homer off Blackham (2-1) for the Sea Dogs' winning margin.
In his third full professional season, Dalbec got off a slow start, hitting .197 in April with two dingers and nine RBIs. He turned around things in May, smacking eight homers and driving in 20 runs while batting .279. Following his two-hit game Saturday, his average is .253.
The 23-year-old ranks second in the Eastern League with 12 big flies but also is fifth with 57 strikeouts. He's also fifth with 24 extra-base hits, third with 91 total bases and fifth in slugging percentage (.523).
It's that dichotomy that Portland hitting coach Lee May addressed Friday after the Sea Dogs' 20-2 romp.
"For [Dalbec], it's just a matter of always being in the position of yes until no," May said. "You want to be hunting every pitch until it's not your pitch, as well as not giving in and not helping them out by pushing the envelope and pressing things and swinging at the stuff that they want you to chase."
Of note, the third baseman has not walked since May 20 -- a stretch of 48 at-bats -- but in 204 plate appearances has 27, fifth-most on the circuit, plus three intentional passes.
"When you start to see the walks mount up and you start to see him do damage because he is swinging at better pitches, that's the direction we want to trend in," May said.

"He's the one guy in the lineup that nobody wants to get beat by. … It's what you deal with when you're that type of a hitter at the Minor League level."
Portland's Josh Tobias was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, while Michael Paez had a solo shot for Binghamton.
Reliever Brian Ellington (2-0) picked up the win after allowing one run on one hit and two walks with a strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. Matthew Gorst earned his first save of the season after retiring the final two batters.
Rain postponed the nightcap, which will be part of a doubleheader on Sunday.