PORTLAND – Here we go again.

Maine’s very own version of the movie “Groundhog Day” will play out at Hadlock Field tonight as the Portland Sea Dogs attempt to open their home schedule against the Binghamton Mets (6 p.m., NESN).

Sound familiar?

That’s because the Sea Dogs had their first four tries postponed by inclement weather. A subsequent storm in Connecticut wiped out three more games. Portland finally opened its season a week later on the road, splitting a four-game series in Trenton.

Now, it’s back to square one.

“I talked to Charlie (Sea Dogs general manager Charlie Eshbach), and he says the weather is going to be good, ” said Portland manager Ron Johnson. “I can’t wait to get back up there.”

Temperatures are expected to be in the 50s today and could reach 70 Tuesday.

That’s a far cry from the snow and cold that wiped out a good portion of the Eastern League schedule over the first week of the season, including Portland and Trenton’s first seven games. Even when the Sea Dogs finally did get to play, the conditions were less than ideal.

Things were so bad in Trenton on Friday night that Thunder management elected to let anyone who had a ticket for the game, used or unused, to exchange it for a ticket to a future game.

“It’s the least we could do,” general manager Rick Brenner told the Trenton Times, “especially for the fans that came out in some very poor conditions.”

While acknowledging the layoff and the conditions the first two nights were tough, Johnson said it’s just something you have to work through.

“Our job is to show up at the ballpark every day and adjust from there,” said Johnson. “It’s part of being a professional.”

All the early problems will be forgotten when right-hander Junior Herndon throws the first pitch and the most anticipated game since the Sea Dogs’ first opener in 1994 gets underway, albeit 11 days late.

“Once we get it going, it’s going to be great,” said Johnson. “The fans are all excited. We’re going to have a ball this summer.”

Sea Dogs notes: About 300 tickets remain for the game. … Herndon, who threw a scoreless inning of relief in Trenton, will be opposed by right-hander Joe Cole (0-0, 3.00 ERA). The pitching match-ups for the other two games of the Binghamton series are Portland’s Jorge de la Rosa (0-0, 4.50) against Phil Seibel (0-1, 1.80) and the Sea Dogs’ Tim Kester (0-0, 1.80) opposite Jake Joseph (1-0, 1.69) Wednesday. … Dustin Brisson’s two-run home run off of Javier Ortiz Sunday was the 1,000th in franchise history. … Portland had a club-record seven doubles in Saturday night’s win. … The Sea Dogs scored 24 runs while winning their last two games. … The Eastern League is still working with the teams trying to reschedule all the early postponements without putting too much wear on players. One option would be to keep rosters at 24, allowing teams to carry an extra pitcher. When all is said and done, Portland will have at least seven twinbills.

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