PORTLAND – As expected, pitcher Greg Montalbano was back with the Sea Dogs on Tuesday.

Montalbano has been on the disabled list since May 4 with shoulder tendinitis.

He’s expected to start Sunday in Norwich when Jorge De La Rosa goes on the temporary inactive list to attend the All-Star Futures Game in Chicago.

“That’s the plan,” said Portland manager Ron Johnson.

Montalbano, who missed last season with a shoulder injury, experienced pain in his May 3 start against New Haven.

He left that game after just two-thirds of an inning and was eventually sent to Florida to begin a rehabilitation program.

Montalbano made three appearances with the Red Sox rookie team in the Gulf Coast League, allowing four runs and eight hits in 11 2/3 innings.

In his last start on Monday, the left-hander gave up a run on four hits over five innings while throwing 80 pitches.

More importantly, Montalbano felt more comfortable on the mound than he has in a long time.

“Mechanics-wise, everything was out of whack,” said Montalbano.

“I think I was trying to do too much. I’ve got everything back in synch as far as using my whole body and throwing the ball the right way.”

More Dogs on the mend

A few of the other injured Sea Dogs should return to action soon.

Pitcher Jake Chapman (strained lateral muscle) is expected to be activated by the end of the week.

Outfielder Kevin Haverbusch (hamstring) and pitcher Eric Glaser (sore tricep) are still a few days away.

Catcher John Nathans (shoulder) will be back around next week’s All-Star break.

Chris Elmore (elbow) has been sent to Fort Myers to continue his rehabilitation.

A no-win situation

Sea Dogs manager Ron Johnson said New Britain counterpart Stan Cliburn had nothing to lose by trying the five-infielder, two-outfielder alignment with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th inning of Monday night’s 3-2 Sea Dogs win.

“An old-timer told me when I first started managing, ‘You get in a situation, bottom of the ninth, you’re on the road, tie ball game, guy’s on third. Do anything you want, because you’re basically screwed,'” said Johnson.

“Why not? Give it a shot and see what happens.”

One long road trip

Bill Craib was at Hadlock Field on Tuesday night.

Craib garnered national attention back in 1991 when he and then-girlfriend Sue Easler visited all 178 professional baseball parks over the course of the summer.

Dubbed “Bill and Sue’s Excellent Adventure”, the six-month road trip was featured on ESPN’s Major League Baseball Magazine show.

Craib is making the journey solo this time around, with stops at all 191 parks scheduled.

Hadlock Field is the 104th stop on the 54,000-mile odyssey that began April 1 in Oakland and ends Sept. 28 at Yankee Stadium.

The streak goes on

Kevin Youkilis singled in the bottom of the third inning Tuesday night to extend his on-base streak to 47 games.

The streak is a personal best for Youkilis, who reached base in 46 straight games while with short-season Lowell in 2001.

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