Spears Powers Portland to 11-4 Win
July 7, 2010 - Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Portland, Maine- Alex Wilson earned his first Double-A win and Nate Spears provided the offense as the Portland Sea Dogs defeated the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 11-4 on Wednesday evening at Hadlock Field in front of 6,067 fans. The Sea Dogs snapped a four game slide and improve to 42-43 on the season. The Fisher Cats four game win streak comes to an end as the team falls to 51-35 on the season.
Nate Spears went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, four runs scored, two RBI, and a walk to pace the Sea Dogs' 13 hit attack against New Hampshire. Spears also stole two bases in the game. The 2010 Eastern League All-Star raised his average ten points with the effort to .266. It was the second four hit performance of the season for Spears.
Shawn Bowman launched his 15th homer of the season and second in as many nights in the second inning to give the Fisher Cats an early 1-0 lead.
The home run was the only blemish for Alex Wilson (1-2) who had the best outing of his Double-A career. In his fifth Double-A Start, Wilson tossed six solid innings surrendering one run on two hits recording six strikeouts and walking two batters. The six innings pitched and the six strikeouts tie season highs for Wilson.
Ray Chang was quick to erase the early 1-0 Fisher Cats lead in the third. With one out in the bottom of the frame, Chang took a Randy Boone delivery deep, his fifth of the season, tying the game at one.
Portland exploded in the third for three runs off Boone. Yamaico Navarro and Anthony Rizzo each chipped in with RBI singles. Chih-Hsien Chiang capped off the inning with a RBI double to give the Sea Dogs a 4-1 lead.
Navarro continued his productive night in the fourth adding his second RBI single of the evening to extend the Portland lead to 5-1.
Randy Boone (2-4) lasted four innings yielding five runs (three earned) on seven hits to take the loss. Boone walked two, struck out three, and tossed four wild pitches. New Hampshire pitchers combined tossed XXX wild pitches on the evening.
New Hampshire picked-up a pair of runs off Santo Luis in the seventh to close the Portland lead to 5-3. Entering the game, Luis had only surrendered one run in his last 12 outings.
The Sea Dogs would put the game out of reach in the bottom half of the seventh scoring four runs and taking a 9-3 lead. Chang got the scoring started with a RBI single and Matt Sheely provided the big blow with a bases loaded triple.
One inning later, Spears put the nail in the coffin with a two run homer, his eighth to wrap up the Portland offensive attack, giving the Sea Dogs the 11-4 lead.
The Sea Dogs and Fisher Cats conclude their four game series Thursday night at Hadlock Field. Portland sends Jeremy Kehrt (0-2, 8.68) faces off against Rey Gonzalez (2-3, 3.45). First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Notes: Luis Segovia made his Double-A debut for Portland and picked-up his first Double-A hit with a lead-off single in the sixth inning. Travis Snider, played in his second game for the Fisher Cats on a Major League Rehab stint from the Toronto Blue Jays went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
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