By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

PORTLAND – Nothing was on the line for Wednesday night’s Eastern League All-Star Game. No home field advantage. No “this time it counts” slogan. But the cream of the Double-A crop managed to entertain the sold-out throng at Hadlock Field nonetheless.

Portland Sea Dogs infielder Kenny Perez played the part of hometown hero, delivering the game-winning two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning as the Northern Division rallied to a 9-6 victory over the Southern Division in a game that saw four ties and four lead changes.

“In our lineup, we have studs one to nine, so we still felt like we had a shot (going into the eighth),” said Perez, the Portland second baseman who was playing in his second EL All-Star game.

New Britain’s Daniel Matienzo, who picked up the game’s “Star of Stars” award by going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, tied the game with a double down the right-field line.

“I’m speechless,” Matienzo said. “I just try to keep everything simple when I go out there, and to get three hits, get that award and help this team win, I’m on top of the world right now.”

Two outs and a walk later, the switch-hitting Perez stroked one to the the opposite field and over the right-fielder’s head to score Matienzo and New Hampshire’s Ryan Roberts.

“There’s really nothing you can say about that. I just looked for the ball and hit it as hard as I could,” Perez said. “There was just a lot of hope.”

“He got a good pitch and got a good swing on it,” said Portland manager Todd Claus, who was managing the Northern Division. “He’s been a lot better batting left-handed this year, but to get an at-bat like that right-handed is good for him. It’s going to be a real positive going into the second half of the season.”

Perez’s heroics spoiled a big night for Akron’s Jonathan Van Every, who went 3-for-4 and belted two solo home runs. Five of the six Southern Division runs came on solo homers.

“There were a lot of balls flying out of the ballpark tonight. Van Every had a very nice night,” said Altoona manager Tony Beasley, who skippered the Southern Division. “I was surprised because there a lot of very good pitchers on their side.”

Making the evening even more pleasing to the 6,975 in attendance was the fact that a couple of other Sea Dogs played important parts in the Northern Division effort. Brandon Moss had an RBI single and made two nice running catches into the right field corner. Hanley Ramirez’s speed, meanwhile, sparked two Northern rallies.

“They did a lot of things, too, that aren’t going to show up in the box score,” Claus said. “Hanley stealing the two bases and scoring on a wild pitch, Moss making two nice catches down the right field line. (Chris) Durbin had a couple of strikeouts, but he makes a nice running catch. I was real proud of the way our guys played today.”

Van Every’s first home run, a two-run shot to right in the second, gave the South a 3-0 lead.

The Northern Division tied the game with three in the second. Shelley Duncan, who put on a show earlier in the day while winning the home run derby, continued the power display with a solo blast to center to lead off the inning.

Sloppy fielding by the Southerners helped the Northerners tie the game. With one out, Sea Dogs third baseman Jared Sandberg reached on a bobbled grounder by Gonzalez. An infield single and a walk loaded the bases for Ramirez, the top-rated prospect in the Boston Red Sox system. Ramirez worked the count full, then hit a chopper to second base. A charging Gonzalez had to rush his throw in hopes of nabbing the speedy Ramirez, but it went wide of first baseman Randy Ruiz and into the Northern dugout, allowing the tying runs to score.

Sea Dogs right fielder Moss gave the Northern Division its first lead with an RBI single to knock in Norwich’s Carlos Valderrama, who had tripled to lead off the third. Erie catcher Max St. Pierre tied the game again at 4-4 with a solo blast off the Coke bottle in left in the fifth. Ramirez (2-for-3, two stolen bases) cut to the quick again in the fifth, stealing second and third, then scoring on a wild pitch to give the North a short-lived 5-4 lead in the fifth. The South responded in the sixth with back-to-back solo shots from Gonzalez, to left, and Van Every again, to right, off New Hampshire righty Josh Banks, to regain the lead.

New Britain’s Jason Miller escaped a two-on, none-out jam in the seventh to keep it a one-run game. Trenton’s Justin Pope pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up the win, and New Hampshire closer Lee Gronkiewicz, who is being promoted to Triple-A today, worked a scoreless ninth for the save.