Pitching Duel in Portland

July 8 2013 Well last game before the all star break. The Sea Dogs taking on the New Britain Rock Cats in the final game of a 5 game series. A nice cloudy and cool 68 degree day at Hadlock. It has been in the 80's and 90's recently so it was quite refreshing. Since last I was in Portland, 2 of the starters had been recalled to Pawtucket (Brandon Workman and Drake Britton) Also Xandier Boegarts was called up to Pawtucket. But Garin Cecchini was called up from Salem to take over at third base. He's only hitting .400 since his call up.

While Britton was suppose to be the starting pitcher today. He was called up to Pawtucket. So pitching for the Sea Dogs was right hander Terry Doyle. This was his 1st start with the Sea Dogs. He spent all last season Pawtucket. Pitching for the Rock Cats was Virgil Vazquez. Vazquez previously spent Major League time with the Tiger and Pirates in 2007 and 2008. Signed as a minor league free agent looks like it was going a tough day for the Sea Dogs. It was going to be a interesting day when the 3rd batter of the game the Manager for New Britain got thrown out for arguing on a check swing.

Both pitchers matched zeros until the top of the 4th inning when Daniel Ortiz launched a long homer in the right field pavillion seats. While Doyle was pitching well in his Sea Dogs debut Vazquez was fantastic. It wasn't until with 1 out in the 6th that the Sea Dogs got their 1st hit. A little bloop single of the bat from Derrik Gibson. It was in the 5th inning when Jordan Parraz hit a long home run over the Maine Monster in left field. That gave the Cats a 2-0 lead. With the way Vazquez was dealing 2-0 felt like a 12-0 game. But Terry Doyle didn't make a fool of himself. He was dealing pitching 8 innings allowing 7 hits on 2 runs. Any other day problem in line for a win. But not this day.

When the 9th inning rolled around, the Sea Dogs down by 2. Derrek Gibson with the only hit for Portland singled. After a fly out from Shannon Wilerson Peter Hissey lined a single. Then Garin Cecchini got a single of his own that brought in a run to make to 2-1. The Rock Cats stayed with Vazquez. It felt like a rally was happening. The Sea Dogs just needed a extra base hit to win it. Tony Thomas struck out. Then Micheal Almanzar lined a fly ball to right. Looked good off the bat. But was not ment to be. It was caught and the game was over. So after 2 hours and 5 mins Virgil Vazquez pitched and complete game 4 hitter. Quite a performance. But Doyle pitched real good too. If he continues to pitch like that, he will be a big asset in the rotation in the 2nd half of the season.