Portland 2-7-1Hartford 7-7-0WP- Brandon Gold (9-5)LP- Matthew Kent (5-5)T- 2:31A- 6,429
Portland 2-7-1
Hartford 7-7-0
WP- Brandon Gold (9-5)
LP- Matthew Kent (5-5)
T- 2:31
A- 6,429
HARTFORD- Brandon Gold turned in his longest outing of the season and Brian Serven homered and knocked in four runs to lift Hartford to a 7-2 win over the Portland Sea Dogs, before a sellout crowd of 6,429 Tuesday night. It was the 19th straight sellout and 41st of the season at Dunkin' Donuts Park.
Playing as the Steamed Cheeseburgers, Hartford (23-27) defeated the Red Sox affiliate for the 10th time in 15 games. It was also the club's 60th victory of the season (60-57).
Gold tied a franchise record for most wins by a pitcher in a season, notching his ninth in improving to 9-5. He hurled seven innings, allowed two runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out six. After surrendering a two-run double to Austin Rei in the second inning to give second place Portland (26-25) a 2-0 lead, the Hartford right-hander pitched around trouble in the next three innings, before retiring the last seven batters. The Rockies' 12th round draft pick in 2016 threw 100 pitches. Relievers Mitch Horacek and Justin Lawrence pitched around walks in the eighth and ninth innings with Lawrence striking out the side.
Hartford scored an unearned run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Serven. The Steamed Cheeseburgers offense, however, started to cook in the fourth against Sea Dogs lefty Matthew Kent. With two outs, reigning Eastern League Player of the Week Bret Boswell singled, Luis Castro walked and Serven launched a three-run homer over the wall in left. It was his seventh home run of the season and second in two games.
The Steamed Cheeseburgers chased Kent in the seventh inning with two outs. Scott Burcham and Manny Melendez reached on infield hits, before Vance Vizcaino delivered an RBI-single. Tyler Nevin then greeted reliever Robinson Leyer with a two-run double.
Kent (5-5) pitched 6 2/3 innings. He allowed seven runs, six earned on six hits, walked two and struck out six.
Serven's home run and four RBI and Nevin's two hits and two RBI paced the Hartford attack. Brett Netzer and Marcus Wilson each had two hits for the Sea Dogs, while Rei added a two-run double.
The four-game series continues with a doubleheader Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. Right-handers Antonio Santos and Ashton Goudeau will pitch for Hartford, while former Yard Goat Konnor Wade and Kutter Crawford will pitch for Portland. The games will be broadcast on News Radio 1410 AM, on 100.9 FM, in Spanish on 1120 AM and on the internet on newsradio1410.iheart.com.
