Smith tosses seven scoreless innings in 4-1 loss to Sea Dogs

August 31, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release

Manchester, NH- Sean Smith pitched seven shutout innings and struck out six, and Darin Mastroianni continued to menace opponents on the base paths, but the New Hampshire Fisher Cats' fell short to the Portland Sea Dogs 4-1 in the 2009 home finale at Merchantsauto.com Stadium Monday night. With a crowd of 5,125 on hand, the Fisher Cats drew a franchise record 386,991 fans for the season, averaging a record-setting 5,609 per opening.

Locked in a scoreless tie in the seventh inning, Mastroianni (2-for-4, R, SB) led off with a walk and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches by Tommy Hottovy. Al Quintana (0-for-2, RBI, BB) lifted a fly ball to shallow left field, but the speedy Mastroianni beat out a play at the plate to give the Fisher Cats a 1-0 lead.

In his last four starts for the Fisher Cats (62-73), Smith (4-3, 2.53), who did not fair in the decision Monday night, has a 1.77 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 20.1 innings.

Portland starter Ryne Miller, who also came away with a no-decision, struck out seven over 5.2 shutout innings on two hits and a pair of walks.

The Sea Dogs (63-71) rallied for four runs in the ninth inning, beginning with Jon Still's one-out single. Lars Anderson followed with a single that pushed pinch-runner Iggy Suarez to third. Boyd got Luis Exposito to pop out, but Yamaico Navarro's double scored both base runners to put the Sea Dogs on top 2-1.

Run-scoring singles by Ryan Khoury and Daniel Nava gave the Sea Dogs a 4-1 advantage.

Leon Boyd (1-5, 5.51) took the loss by allowing all four Portland runs in 1.2 innings of work. Derrick Loop (1-0, 0.00) took the win after tossing just one shutout inning.

Eastern League Stories from August 31, 2009

• B-Mets rally back from six-run deficit, fall late, 10-7 - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
• Aeros Earn Split, Hold Off B-Mets 10-7 - Akron RubberDucks
• Smith tosses seven scoreless innings in 4-1 loss to Sea Dogs - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
• Fisher Cats set six attendance records in 2009 - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
• 'Dogs rally in the ninth to beat the 'Cats - Portland Sea Dogs
• Curve fall to SeaWolves, 4-3 - Altoona Curve
• Defenders lose 8-4, split series - Connecticut Defenders
• Arnesen leads Sens to 8-4 win over Connecticut - Harrisburg Senators
• Trenton tops New Britain, 4-2 - Trenton Thunder
• Thunder give Community Service and Fan Favorite awards - Trenton Thunder
• Aeros Media Notes - Akron RubberDucks
• Jason Stephens Transferred From Tampa To Trenton - Trenton Thunder
• Fans Can Vote for Altoona Curve MVP at AltoonaCurve.com - Altoona Curve
• Rock Cats Prep For Final Homestand Of 2009 - New Britain Rock Cats
• Sea Dogs Final 2009 Homestand Packed with Promotions - Portland Sea Dogs
• SeaWolves' Bertram Named Player of the Week - Erie SeaWolves
• Eastern League Names Weekly Award Winners - EL1

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent New Hampshire Fisher Cats Stories

• Watts-Brown Targets Another Quality Start on Wednesday
• Bullpen Propels Cats over R-Phils in Extra Innings
• Cats, Phils Square off for Six-Game Series in Reading
• Sánchez Named Pitcher of the Week After No-Hitter
• Sánchez Named Pitcher of the Week After No-Hitter