PORTLAND, ME – The Trenton Thunder had three leads in extra innings with two outs, and the Portland Sea Dogs rallied all three times to eventually earn a 9-8 victory in 15 innings Saturday afternoon at Hadlock Field.
The final blow for the Sea Dogs came with two outs in the bottom of the 15th to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 9-8 win. With runners at second and third and one out, reliever Charley Short struck out Sean Coyle to preserve Trenton’s lead for the time being. The next batter Henry Ramos- a switch-hitter batting from the left side- slapped a single to left field and the throw home by Ben Gamel was not in time to get Blake Swihart as the winning run.
In a game that was played under misty conditions, Portland rallied from an early 4-1 deficit in the 3rd inning and scored twice in the 8th inning to tie it 5-5. That proved to be just the tip of the iceberg for Portland’s comeback efforts however.
Trenton plated a run in the top of the 10th inning on a Gary Sanchez double up the left-centerfield alley for a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the 10th, Pat Venditte had two outs and the bases empty before surrendering a solo homer to Swihart to tie the game 6-6.
After Aaron Dott tossed 3.1 scoreless innings, out of the bullpen, the game headed to the 14th inning still tied 6-6. Trenton scored a run in the top of the inning to take a 7-6 lead, and with Charley Short having retired the first two batters he faced, Mookie Betts homered to center field with Portland down to their final out to send the game to the 15th.
The Thunder scored a go-ahead run in the 15th inning on a wild pitch by newly-inserted pitcher Peter Hissey, who played the first 14 of the ballgame in left field. Hissey, who was 0-for-6 at the plate with two strikeouts, earns the victory for Portland.
Trenton logged 18 hits in 59 at-bats (.305) off Portland pitching in the game, and outhit the Sea Dogs 18-to-16 despite the loss. Seven of the nine starters for Trenton had multi-hit games in the ballgame that took 4:19 plus a 0:27 delay before first pitch due to rain.
Trenton returns to action Sunday against the Sea Dogs in the final game of the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with the Trenton Thunder pre-game show beginning at 12:45 p.m. on 91.3 FM WTSR, 1490 AM WBCB or online at www.trentonthunder.com.
–THUNDER–
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