Northcut Blasts 30th Homer of Season in Sea Dogs Victory
August 31, 2022 - Eastern League (EL)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Manchester, New Hampshire - Nick Northcut and Izzy Wilson both went deep, combining for five hits and five RBI, powering the Portland Sea Dogs (62-60, 32-21) to a 9-4 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (52-70, 21-32) on Wednesday at Delta Dental stadium.
Portland's offense exploded for five runs in the top of the second inning against New Hampshire starting pitcher Alejandro Melean. Niko Kavadas and Alex Binelas led off with walks. One out later, Nick Northcut blasted a three-run home run, putting the Sea Dogs in the lead 3-0. With two outs, Wilyer Abreu walked and David Hamilton singled, placing runners at the corners. Hamilton stole second base, his 60th steal of the season, and both runners came around to score on a base hit from Christian Koss, extending the Sea Dogs lead to 5-0.
Northcut's homer in the second inning was his 30th of the season; 26 with High-A Greenville Drive and four with Portland. He has the third-most amount of home runs through all levels of Minor League Baseball.
The Sea Dogs plated one run in the top of the third inning against Fisher Cats reliever Gabriel Ponce. Izzy Wilson led off with a single and stole second base. Northcut followed with a single that moved Wilson to third. Wil Dalton grounded into a double play, scoring Wilson, and giving Portland a 6-0 advantage.
New Hampshire mustered one run in the bottom of the third against Sea Dogs starter Sterling Sharp. Cam Eden worked a two-out walk to keep the inning alive. Davis Schneider tripled to center, bringing around Eden, and cutting into Portland's lead 6-1.
The Sea Dogs responded with two runs in the top of the fifth against Fisher Cats reliever Juan Nunez. Binelas collected a one-out double and Wilson launched a two-run shot to right. It was his tenth long ball of the season and added to the Sea Dogs lead, 8-1.
Three runs came around to score for the Fisher Cats in the bottom of the seventh against Sea Dogs reliever Cody Scroggins. Luis De Los Santos led off the inning with a solo home run, cutting into the lead, 8-2. Phil Clarke and Sebastian Espino both walk and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. One out later, Eden lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Clarke to make it an 8-3 game. Schneider drove in the final run of the inning, taking a base hit to right, scoring Espino to trim the deficit to 8-4.
Portland added an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning against New Hampshire pitcher Brady Lail. Dalton singled and Abreu reached on a fielder's choice, with both runners on base safely. Hamilton loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and Koss pushed in Dalton with a base knock to left, increasing the Sea Dogs lead to 9-4. Brendan Nail entered for the bottom of the ninth, holding strong for a 9-4 Sea Dogs victory.
Ryan Zeferjahn (1-0, 0.00 ERA) tossed 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out one in his first win of the season. Melean (0-3, 6.00 ERA) hurled 1.2 innings, surrendering five runs on three hits, five walks, and two strikeouts in his third loss of the season.
The Sea Dogs and Fisher Cats play the third game of a six-game series on Thursday with a 7:05 PM first pitch at Delta Dental Stadium. Portland sends Thaddeus Ward (0-1, 3.13 ERA) to the mound against New Hampshire RHP Luis Quinones (0-5, 4.84 ERA).
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