Sea Dogs Blank Rock Cats
June 2, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
New Britain, Connecticut- Brock Huntzinger started strong, and Blake Maxwell finished strong. In between, Will Middlebrooks hit a solo home run and the Portland Sea Dogs beat the New Britain Rock Cats 1-0, winning back-to-back games for the first time since late April. The Sea Dogs also earned a series split in the four-game set with the Rock Cats, the first time that Portland has not lost a road series outright this year. Huntzinger paved the way for the win with his best outing of the season.
The righty had not made a start since May 21 when he was pulled from a game against the Trenton Thunder. Huntzinger came off the disabled list and turned in a six-inning, three-hit performance for his first quality start of the year. He also matched a team-high with seven strikeouts. That's the most Huntzinger had had in any start since 2009. After allowing back-to-back hits to the first two batters, the Indiana native retired 16 straight before giving up a one-out single to Steve Singleton in sixth inning.
Huntzinger received some nice defensive help as he neared the end of his outing. Singleton tried to stretch his single into a double in the sixth and was thrown out at second base by Chih-Hsien Chiang for the second out of the inning. After Chris Herrmann walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Chris Parmelee was intentionally walked. Then, with Evan Bigley at the plate, Tim Federowicz picked off Parmelee at first base to end the inning.
Will Middlebrooks provided the offense in the top half of the seventh inning, blasting his eighth home run of the season to make it 1-0 Portland. Caleb Clay came in and worked a scoreless inning and two-thirds, his second straight scoreless outing. Maxwell came in to get the final out of the eighth, but ran into trouble in the ninth.
Maxwell hit Bigley to start the inning. Chris Cates pinch-ran for Bigley and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Yangervis Solarte. Then, Maxwell hit Deibinson Romero and walked Michael Hollimon to load the bases with one out. The North Carolina native would settle down, striking out pinch-hitter Joe Benson and Dan Rohlfing to end the game, earning his fourth save with Portland.
The Sea Dogs continue their seven-game road trip in Altoona for its first series against a team from the Western Division. Portland returns to Hadlock Field on Tuesday, June 7th. The team kicks off a six-game homestand against the Richmond Flying Squirrels and Bowie Baysox. The Sea Dogs will celebrate Good Neighbor Night, sponsored by State Farm Insurance on Wednesday, June 8th. For tickets, log on to www.seadogs.com or call 207-879-9500.
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Eastern League Stories from June 2, 2011
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