Sea Dogs ground Flying Squirrels in 10-7 win

Portland, Maine – Major League rehabber Rob Refsnyder blasted two home runs, driving in three runs for the Portland Sea Dogs (54-54, 24-15), finishing the series with a 10-7 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (52-55, 12-26) on Sunday for their 1,000th win at Hadlock Field in franchise history.

Brayan Bello, Tyler Danish, and Kiké Hernandez also made rehab appearances. Bello started the game, finishing his 3.2 innings with six strikeouts while allowing one run on two hits in a no-decision. Danish worked through 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits, one walk, and struck out three. Hernandez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his three at-bats.

The Sea Dogs took the lead in the bottom of the first inning against Flying Squirrels starter Wil Jensen. Rob Refsnyder led off with a solo homer to right-center. It was the first homer of his rehab stint with the Sea Dogs and gave them a 1-0 lead.

Portland struck again in the bottom of the third with Jensen still on the mound. Tyler Dearden led off with a walk. Refsnyder launched his second homer of the game, this time over the Maine Monster in left, increasing the lead for the Sea Dogs to 2-0.

Richmond brought in their first runs of the game in the top of the fourth against Portland reliever Casey Cobb. With one out, Tristan Peters doubled to center. Armani Smith grounded out, advancing Peters to third. Ricardo Genoves walked, and Carter Aldrete doubled to left, scoring Peters and Genoves, making it a 3-2 game. Casey Schmitt followed with a double of his own, scoring Aldrete, tying the game at 3-3.

The runs continued to pour in for the Sea Dogs in the bottom of the fourth frame. Stephen Scott led off with a double and Wilyer Abreu reached on a fielding error. Alex Binelas cleared the bases with a three-run home run, putting Portland ahead 6-3.

Two more runs came around to score in the bottom of the fifth for Portland. Christian Koss led off with a double and Stephen Scott walked. Wilyer Abreu doubled to center, scoring Koss, and moving Scott to third, extending the lead to 7-3. Binelas hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Scott, increasing the advantage to 8-3 for the Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs lineup drove in another two runs in the bottom of the sixth. David Hamilton doubled to right to lead off the inning. One out later, Wil Dalton singled to right, putting runners on the corners. Christian Koss hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Hamilton. Scott singled and Abreu came through with another base hit, bringing the score to 10-3.

Richmond attempted a comeback in the top of the ninth, scoring four runs against the Portland bullpen. Brandon Martorano led off with a walk and Fitzgerald singled. Two outs later, Genoves walked to load the bases. Aldrete singled to right field, driving in Martorano and Fitzgerald, moving Genoves to third, making it a 10-5 game. Casey Schmitt walked to load the bases again and Jacob Heyward hit a line drive single off the third base bag, scoring Genoves and Aldrete, continuing to cut into the lead, 10-7. Michael Gettys entered the game, getting the final out, and locking up a 10-7 win for the Sea Dogs.

Casey Cobb (1-0, 54.00 ERA) picked up his first win of the year, recording one out, allowing two runs on two hits while walking one. Jensen (1-2, 5.68 ERA) pitched 4.2 innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits, walking three, and striking out one in his second loss of the season.

The Sea Dogs enjoy a league-wide off day on Monday before hitting the road to take on the Reading Fightin Phils starting at 7:00 PM on Tuesday.