Arias blasts his fourth home run in 9-7 loss

Portland, ME - Despite three homers by the Portland Sea Dogs (8-7), the Hartford Yard Goats (6-9) outlasted Portland 9-7 at Delta Dental Park. The Sea Dogs recorded their second sellout of the season with 6,868 fans.

Franklin Arias blasted his fourth homer of the year in the second inning for Portland. The 20-year-old shortstop is hitting .457 in 11 games with the Sea Dogs with 11 RBI this season. Tyler McDonough had a multi-hit night going two-for-three with a solo homer. Max Ferguson hit the third longball of the game with a two-run blast with two outs in the ninth inning.

Franklin Arias led off the game with a single, his first hit in his last five at-bats – the closest thing to a slump Arias has faced since the beginning of the season. Just a few batters later, Miguel Bleis singled on a blooper to right field. A throwing error by Jose Torres brought Arias around to score, and the Sea Dogs led 1-0.

Portland added three more runs in the second inning, starting with a Max Ferguson double. Ferguson advanced to third on a Rosario groundout. Will Turner walked to put runners on the corners. Turner broke to steal second and Hartford went for the throwdown, but it was not in time, and Ferguson simultaneously stole home, moving the score to 2-0. Arias hit his fourth HR in the last week, scoring himself and Turner, as the Sea Dogs led 4-0.

Hartford bit back in the top of the third inning, scoring two. Jose Torres led off the inning with a solo home run GJ Hill walked and then came around to score on a Dyan Jorge groundout. Hill got a great jump on the hit and run and was nearly at second by the time Max Ferguson made the play onto first. Hill saw an opening and dove into third, beating a ball from Rosario that got past Ferguson, scored as an error on the first baseman, and Hill scored easily.

The Sea Dogs went down in order in the third before Hartford piled on in the fourth, with three straight hits, including two doubles, to start the inning. Roc Riggio’s double to right field scored Cole Messina and Bryant Betancourt. Then GJ Hill drove it deep to center field, and an error by Miguel Bleis, who dropped the ball, allowed Hill to make his way all the way to third base, scoring Roc Riggio. Ziehl bounced back with two strikeouts to end the inning, but the Sea Dogs fell behind, 5-4.

Portland tied it on a Tyler McDonough solo shot in the sixth, but their lead didn’t last long, as Hartford plated three more runs in the top of the seventh. Dyan Jorge singled and stole second before advancing to third on an Andy Perez groundout. Aidan Longwell recorded an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field, though the catch by Miguel Bleis was nothing short of spectacular. After back-to-back walks, LHP Erik Rivera replaced Cade Feeney. He gave up an RBI single to Bryant Betancourt before closing out the inning, and the Yard Goats led 8-5.

The Sea Dogs went quietly in the bottom half, going down in order on a groundout and two flyouts. Hartford added one more in the eighth inning, thanks once again to the speed of GJ Hill. Hill reached second on the second error of the day by Bleis in center field. He stole third and came home to score on a throwing error by Erik Rivera that could have ended the inning.

Rivera retired the side in order in the top of the ninth, and they were down to their final three outs, trailing 9-5.

LHP Sam Weatherly came in to pitch for the Yard Goats and struck out the first batter he saw, Nate Baez. Then Bleis walked and Johanfran Garcia struck out, bringing Max Ferguson to the plate with one on and two out. Ferguson crushed the ball to center field, a hit you knew was out of the park based on the sound of the bat, and the Sea Dogs trailed 9-7. The jubilation did not last long, as Ronald Rosario grounded out to end the game.

RHP Carlos Torres (2-0, 2.25 ERA) was awarded the win, tossing 2.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit while walking two. RHP Cade Feeney (1-1, 5.40 ERA) was given the losing pitching 1.2 innings allowing three runs on two hits while walking two and striking out one.

The Sea Dogs and Yard Goats will meet again tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22nd at 12:05 pm. Hartford will send RHP Connor Staine (0-1, 12.71 ERA) to the bump while Portland is TBA.