Hassan and Chiang Drive in Five Combined
Published on July 8, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Manchester, NH- Alex Hassan and Chih-Hsien Chiang refuse to slow down. Two of the Eastern League's best hitters combined for five hits and five RBI as the Portland Sea Dogs beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 8-3 on Friday night in Manchester. Most of the damage came against Fisher Cats starter Zach Stewart (4-5) who allowed 10 hits and six earned runs over just four innings. Alex Wilson (8-4) went five innings to earn the win. He gave up three runs on six hits and walked four, but managed to work out of some jams to preserve the lead.
The Sea Dogs wasted no time, scoring first when Chiang singled in Jeremy Hazelbaker after a leadoff double. Portland expanded its lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Hassan ripped a double to score Hazelbaker for a second time. Hassan later came in to score when Will Middlebrooks grounded into a double play.
The Sea Dogs blew the game open in the fourth inning. Reynaldo Rodriguez, Jon Hee and Heiker Meneses all singled with Meneses driving in Rodriguez to make it 5-0 Portland. Hazelbaker popped out, but with two outs, Hassan lined one deep to left field to score Hee and Menses, the second two-bagger of the game for Hassan. Chiang tacked on an RBI double in the sixth to complete the scoring for Portland.
New Hampshire came back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Travis d'Arnaud doubled in a run and the second scored on a bases-loaded walk from Wilson with two outs. The Portland ace stopped the bleeding when he made a nice fielding play to throw out Justin Jackson at first and end the inning. Wilson surrendered another run in the fifth on a Moises Sierra RBI single, but struck out Mike McDade and got d'Arnaud to fly out, ending the inning.
Kyle Fernandes went three scoreless innings of relief and Cesar Cabral pitched a perfect ninth to close out the win. Fernandes matched a season-high with four strikeouts. He got Anthony Gose swinging to end the sixth inning, as the Fisher Cats left the bases loaded, the second time that happened. New Hampshire stranded eight runners on the night.
The Sea Dogs and Fisher Cats will play game two of the four-game series tomorrow night. Monday afternoon's finale marks the start of the All-Star break. After the break, the Sea Dogs are back at Hadlock Field for a seven-game homestand starting July 14th. That night will also feature a Clay Buchholz Bobblehead giveaway. For tickets, log on to www.seadogs.com or call 207-879-9500.
Eastern League Stories from July 8, 2011
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