BOWIE, Md. — Josh Fields could have faced much better circumstances in his pitching debut with the Portland Sea Dogs.

Acquired from the Seattle Mariners’ minor league system in a three-team weekend trade, Fields entered Wednesday night’s game with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning after the Bowie Baysox had taken a 6-5 lead with a light rain falling at Prince George’s Stadium.

Fields got Buck Britton on a foul pop fly to the catcher with the bases loaded to end the threat and on a night when Sea Dogs pitchers gave up a season-high 12 walks, Fields got the win when Portland scored three times in the top of the ninth for an 8-6 victory.

“I was not thinking of the bases loaded,” said Fields. “I just tried to focus on the hitter.”

Fields said he got about two hours of sleep Monday night after he heard he had been traded to Boston. He flew from Washington where he had been playing with Triple-A Tacoma and joined the Sea Dogs at their hotel in Annapolis before Tuesday’s doubleheader.

“He is impressive. He has a quality arm,” Portland Manager Kevin Boles said of Fields, who hit 95 mph with his fastball. “He has a power arm.”

Advertisement

Fields went 2 1/3 innings and allowed no runs and one hit with four strikeouts.

Alex Hassan started Portland’s ninth-inning rally against closer Brandon Cooney when his grounder skidded on a wet infield and got past first baseman Joe Mahoney for an error to bring in Ryan Dent and tie the game at 6.

After Mark Wagner reached on a fielder’s choice, Will Middlebrooks blooped a single to center on a 3-2 pitch to drive in Jeremy Hazelbaker and give the Sea Dogs a 7-6 lead.

Matt Spring, who had a two-run double in the first inning, followed with an RBI single to left to make it 8-6.

Cesar Cabral got his first save for Portland as he retired Bowie in the ninth even though the Baysox got the tying runs on base.

Fields struck out the first two batters he faced in the seventh. He then walked No. 9 hitter Greg Miclat, Bowie’s 11th walk of the game, before Miclat was thrown out stealing for just the second time this season.

Advertisement

“We have to do a better job,” Boles said of the walks. “The conditions got a little bit rough but the grounds crew did a great job.”

The Bowie pitchers only walked two.

Bowie pulled to within 5-4 in the sixth as the rain fell with reliever Caleb Clay on the mound. Clay walked three and then sent a wild pitch well over the head of catcher Spring, allowing Brandon Waring to score.

The next hitter, L.J. Hoes, hit a two-run double along the left-field line to give Bowie a 6-5 lead.

It was the fourth straight time Hoes reached base in the game and came after he hit a home run in each game of Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.