Trenton Squeaks By Portland 3-2 in 10 Innings
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning the Sea Dogs rallied to send the game into extra frames. Che-Hsuan Lin started the inning with an infield single and advanced to second base on a throwing error by second baseman Corban Joseph. Lin would score to tie the game on a RBI single by Tim Federowicz. Federowicz has collected an RBI in each of Portland's five games this season.
Trenton would respond in the 10th inning without the benefit of a hit as Austin Krum crossed the plate with the game winning run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cody Johnson.
Sea Dogs' pitchers limited the Thunder offense to six hits and notched 13 strikeouts. Meanwhile the Sea Dogs offense collected 14 hits; all singles.
Santo Luis (0-1) suffered the tough luck loss yielding one run without giving up a hit in 3.1 innings of work. He struck out five Trenton batters.
Fernando Hernandez (1-0) who had the blown save for Trenton in the ninth picks up his first win of the season. Naoya Okamota earned his first save of the season closing out the tenth inning.
Trenton got the scoring started in the second inning when Melky Mesa homered off Portland starter Michael Lee to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead.
Lee tossed 3.1 innings in his Double-A debut surrendering one run on three hits notching four strikeouts and one walk. Tommy Hottovy made his first appearance of the season in relief of Lee. Hottovy pitched three solid innings of relief yielding one run on three hits and recording four strikeouts. The lone run off of Hottovy came in the sixth when Bradley Suttle doubled to left scoring Austin Romine.
The Sea Dogs managed to get the run back in the bottom half of the sixth inning stringing out three hits in the inning including a RBI single by Oscar Tejeda scoring Ryan Lavarnway. Lavarnway collected three hits for Portland on the evening.
Trenton starter Manny Banuelos, the Yankees sixth ranked prospect by Baseball America, tossed four shutout innings allowing four hits, one walk, and recording a strikeout in his 2011 debut.
Alex Hassan singled in the fifth inning and has now hit safely in all five games this season. Will Middlebrooks had his four game hit streak snapped with an 0-for-5 performance.
The Sea Dog and Thunder will return to action Tuesday night at 6:00 PM at Hadlock Field. Right-handed pitcher Alex Wilson will look to improve to 2-0 for the Sea Dogs. He'll be opposed by Trenton lefty Steve Garrison (0-0). New England Patriots Tight-End Rob Gronkowski will be appearing at Hadlock Field on Tuesday night. Additionally, Tuesday the first 1,000 fans to enter the ballpark will receive a 2011 Sea Dogs Poster Schedule, courtesy of Northeast Mobile Health Services.