New Face Leads Sea Dogs to 4-3 Comeback Win
Published on August 26, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Reading, Pennsylvania- In just his second game with Portland, Alex Valdez wasted no time in making his mark. The infielder knocked in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning as the Sea Dogs beat the Reading Phillies 4-3 on Friday night. Mark Wagner tied the game leading off the inning with a solo home run, his second in as many nights. Josh Fields (3-0) worked a scoreless eighth and ninth inning to pick up the win. He struck out Carlos Rivero with the bases loaded to close out the victory.
The Phillies got started early, jumping to a 3-0 lead against Brock Huntzinger in the first inning. Michael Spidale, Ozzie Chavez and Rivero all singled to open the game. Then, Matt Rizzotti walked with the bases loaded to bring in the first run. Jon Suomi followed with a two-out, two-run single before Huntzinger escaped the inning.
The Sea Dogs slowly worked their way back into the game. Ryan Khoury capped a run of three straight singles in the third inning to drive in Ronald Bermudez with the first Portland run. Then, in the sixth inning, Jeremy Hazelbaker crushed his third home run of the series. The solo bomb cut Reading's lead to 3-2.
The Sea Dogs had several potential rallies cut short. Portland put the leadoff man on in eight of the nine innings, although two of those were the home runs by Hazelbaker and Wagner. Reading countered Portland's offense with four turned double plays. Phillies closer Justin Friend (1-4) surrendered the lead and was tagged with a blown save. Huntzinger finished with a quality start, going six innings while allowing three runs on eight hits. He also struck out eight batters while walking just one.
The Sea Dogs will wrap up their series with the Phillies tomorrow with a day-night doubleheader. Sunday's finale was moved to Saturday as a precaution due to Hurricane Irene. The first game will be at 1:05 PM with the second game set to start at 6:35 PM. The final home series starts on Friday, September 2nd with this year's induction into the Portland Sea Dogs Hall of Fame presented by UNUM. For tickets, log on to www.seadogs.com or call 207-879-9500.
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