Portland, Maine- Deiner Lopez hit a walk-off, opposite-field single to score Cole Sturgeon from third base and the Sea Dogs (22-23) defeated the Trenton Thunder (32-17) 8-7 in 10 innings on Memorial Day at Hadlock Field.
Portland, Maine- Deiner Lopez hit a walk-off, opposite-field single to score Cole Sturgeon from third base and the Sea Dogs (22-23) defeated the Trenton Thunder (32-17) 8-7 in 10 innings on Memorial Day at Hadlock Field.
Sturgeon led off the bottom of the 10th with an infield single off of Colten Brewer (BS 1, L, 0-1). Joseph Monge followed with a single, then both runners advanced a base on a groundout by Jordan Procyshen. Lopez then took the first pitch he saw from Brewer and looped it into left field, where Mark Payton just missed making a diving catch.
Yankory Pimentel (W, 1-0) earned his first win with two innings of relief, allowing one run on one hit.
Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Sea Dogs tied the game on a two-double by Danny Mars to score Monge and Procyshen.
Rafael Devers gave the Sea Dogs an early lead in the first on an RBI double off the wall in right-center field to score Danny Mars.
The Thunder answered the very next half-inning on an RBI single by Billy Fleming to score Mike Ford and tie the game 1-1.
The Sea Dogs took the lead back in the third. Jordan Procyshen led off with a walk, then went first to third on a Deiner Lopez single. Danny Mars grounded out to first base and Procyshen scored to make it 2-1 Portland. Josh Tobias then reached base on an error by pitcher Ronald Herrera (ND) to allow Lopez to score and make it a 3-1 game.
Once again, Trenton answered the next half-inning. Travis Lakins (ND) walked Thairo Estrada to lead off the inning, then reached second on a throwing error by Lakins to put two on with nobody out. Jacob Dahlstrand entered the game for Portland and walked the first three batters he faced to tie the game 3-3. The bases were still loaded at that point with nobody out, and Trenton took the lead when Rashad Crawford grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The Thunder made it a 5-3 lead when Billy Fleming reached base on a throwing error by Devers to score Ford.
Lakins allowed three runs (two earned) on just one hit in 5+ innings, he walked four and struck out six. Herrera went six innings and allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits while walking two and striking out five.
Portland got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on two Thunder errors, the first allowing Nick Longhi to reach base and later by Mark Payton in left field on a long fly ball hit by Joseph Monge where Longhi scored and cut the deficit to 5-4.
For the third time, the Thunder responded the next half-inning. Abiatal Avelino led off the seventh with a single off of Dahlstrand, then with two outs Miguel Andújar doubled him in to make it 6-4 Trenton.
Jeremy Barfield cut the deficit back to one run on a solo homer over the Maine Monster in the eighth inning off of Caleb Frare.
Trenton again responded - for the fourth time - in the next half-inning on a solo homer by Thairo Estrada over the monster off of Yankory Pimentel.
The Sea Dogs travel southwest to Reading to begin a road trip tomorrow evening. First pitch from FirstEnergy Stadium is scheduled for 6:35 PM on Tuesday night. LHP Jalen Beeks (5-1, 2.13) takes the mound for the Sea Dogs against RHP Drew Anderson (3-2, 5.14) of Reading. Pregame coverage begins on the WPEI US Cellular Sea Dogs Radio Network at 6:15 PM.
