NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The bats made little noise through five innings.
After the first two batters reached base, New Britain starter David Bromberg was in total command, but the Portland Sea Dogs ultimately had their way with the bullpen.
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The first six batters in the sixth inning reached base and five runs crossed the plate Tuesday night to propel the Sea Dogs to an 8-0 win over the winless Rock Cats at New Britain Stadium.
Portland (3-3) broke open a scoreless game against left-hander Joe Testa (0-1), who hit Che-Hsuan Lin with a pitch to open the inning. Nate Spears, Luis Exposito, Lars Anderson and Yamaico Navarro all singled, producing two runs.
Ray Chang hit a potential double-play grounder to second, but Steve Singleton’s backhand flip went awry and two more runs came across.
A sacrifice fly by Chih-Hsien Chiang capped the uprising.
“(Bromberg) did a nice job,- Portland Manager Arnie Beyeler said.
“He really mixed it up well on us and we really didn’t get anything going, but the guys kept grinding at-bats out and dropped a few balls in.
“The guys have been playing good defense, catching the ball, and we’ve been pitching pretty well, so we’ve been in just about every game. That’s all you can ask for.”
Both starters were sharp.
Portland left-hander Felix Doubront allowed three hits, walked two and hit a batter, but he struck out six and didn’t yield a run in his four-inning stint.
Tommy Hottovy (1-0) went three innings, allowed three hits and struck out five.
Ryne Lawson pitched a perfect eighth and ninth. Collectively, they allowed just six hits, walked three and struck out 12.
Twice the Rock Cats (0-5) threatened against Doubront, but the Sea Dogs kept the game scoreless.
“Anytime you throw a shutout, the guys are doing something right, and they were challenged there,” Beyeler said.
“(Twice) they had a runner at third base and less than two outs. We brought the infield in twice and we responded. We kept throwing strikes and we were fortunate that they didn’t get any hits in those situations.”
Bromberg went five innings, giving up three hits and two walks with two strikeouts, but Portland jumped on New Britain’s bullpen.
“We really didn’t threaten much until we put that big inning together,” Beyeler said. “I was hoping we could hang on.
“It looked like it was going to be a pretty close game or I wouldn’t have brought the infield in early in the game.”
After knocking out Testa, the Sea Dogs (3-3) teed off on Steven Hirschfeld in the eighth inning.
Navarro drew a one-out walk before Chang and Chiang followed with line-drive doubles.
Once again, an error contributed to the rally. The third run of the inning scored when left fielder Ben Revere dropped a fly ball off the bat of Ryan Kalish.
Chang and Chiang had two RBI apiece. Spears and Anderson paced a 10-hit attack with two singles each.
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