Ball leaves stadium 11 times in Sea Dogs’ 11-10 win
PORTLAND – The only thing missing was the ivy.
“It was like Wrigley Field out there,” Portland manager Ron Johnson said after watching his team and the Norwich Navigators combined for 11 home runs in an 11-10 Sea Dogs’ victory Wednesday afternoon at Hadlock Field.
The way balls were flying out of the park, it might have been wise to check and see if some of Sammy Sosa’s corked bats had found their way east.
Of course, a wind that was gusting up to 25 miles per hour didn’t hurt.
Justin Sherrod became the first Sea Dog to hit two balls over the scoreboard in left-center field in the same game to lead Portland’s six home run barrage.
“When you see the wind like that, it builds your confidence before you even step in the box,” said Sherrod. “But you still have to put your bat on the ball. A lot of guys get trigger happy and try to do too much.”
Sherrod’s second blast of the day came one out after Kevin Youkilis had broken a 9-9 tie with his second home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Navigators’ Alejandro Freire followed up his eighth-inning grand slam with a solo shot leading off the ninth.
Jake Chapman (4-0), the Sea Dogs’ fourth pitcher of the day, retired the next three hitters in order to end it.
“If you hit the ball up in the air, it was going out,” said Norwich manager Shane Turner. “We came right back. We just couldn’t get that last one.”
Norwich had rallied from a 9-3 deficit to tie the game, sending 12 men to the plate in the top of the eighth. An uncharacteristically wild Eric Glaser walked the first two batters he faced before an infield single loaded the bases. One swing from Freire made it a 9-7 game.
One out later, Doug Clark’s solo home run chased Glaser.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Johnson said of Glaser. “His command was off and you couldn’t get behind hitters today.”
A check swing double and three singles, the last being an infield hit where the speedy Pat Hallmark beat Portland second baseman Carlos Leon to the bag on an attempted force out, made it a new ballgame.
It took only five pitches for Norwich to jump on top, with Adam Shabala connecting with a man aboard against Jorge De La Rosa in the top of the first.
The Sea Dogs scored four times in both the first and third innings against Norwich starter Mitch Walk.
Kelly Shoppach and Sherrod went back-to-back to cap off the bottom of the first.
Tony Schrager followed Kevin Haverbusch’s three-run shot with a solo home run in the third.
Jeremy Owens’ bloop RBI-single in the seventh gave Portland what seemed like a comfortable six-run cushion before things got really wild.
“Those last two innings, that’s not really baseball as far as I’m concerned,” said Turner. “But that’s the elements and you’ve got to play with them. From a hitters’ perspective, it’s great. From a pitchers’ and managers’ perspective, it’ll give you gray hairs.”
The first-place Sea Dogs (36-23) leave today for an 11-game road trip that will begin Friday against Eastern League leading Akron.
“We didn’t beat Akron last year,” Johnson said of his Trenton team. “So when I see that record and that pitching….it should be interesting.”
Sea Dogs notes: The Red Sox sent Sea Dogs outfielder Tonayne Brown to the Detroit Tigers as the player to be named in an earlier lower-level minor league deal. Brown was hitting just .228 in his third season in Double A. “I was a little surprised,” said Brown. “But I think it’s going to be a good move for me. I’m going to a team where a lot of younger guys are getting a chance.” Brown will join the Tigers’ Double A affiliate, Erie, for its series at Bowie this weekend. Justin Headley was sent down from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Brown’s spot. Headley hit .237 in 12 games with the PawSox. The Sea Dogs have won the last 11 games De La Rosa has started. The combined 11 home runs were a franchise record. The three-game sweep was Portland’s first since April of last season and the first at home since August of 2001. The Sea Dogs’ next home game is June 23 against Akron.
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