PORTLAND — When the Boston Red Sox were last at Fenway Park, they showed little offense, recording three hits in each of the three games they played.
Fenway fans might see a similar production today, if the Portland Sea Dogs don’t improve on Friday night’s performance.
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The Sea Dogs amassed five hits — two by Jeremy Hazelbaker — in a 10-1 loss to the Binghamton Mets at Hadlock Field.
Today, the teams will play at Fenway Park, at 1 p.m., as part of the annual Futures at Fenway doubleheader. Pawtucket, the Red Sox Triple-A franchise, will play Syracuse after the Sea Dogs game.
In the Pawtucket game, you could see some familiar faces, including third baseman Will Middlebrooks, who was promoted to Triple-A on Friday.
The Sea Dogs arrived in Portland 7 a.m. Friday, after an all-night bus trip from Reading, Pa. By 10 a.m., Middlebrooks was packing his bags and heading south on Interstate 95.
Whether it was fatigue or the absence of Middlebrooks, the Sea Dogs were lifeless at the plate.
Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia (4-3) may have also figured in the equation. Familia gave up one hit and no runs, while striking out seven.
Familia, the 13th-ranked prospect in the Mets organization, according to Baseball America, now has two shutout performances against Portland. He blanked the Sea Dogs over five innings, allowing three hits on July 4.
Miguel Gonzalez (0-5) started for the Sea Dogs, leaving in the fifth inning with the bases loaded, two outs and Portland losing 2-0.
Reliever Eammon Portice fell behind 2-1 to cleanup hitter Brahiam Maldonado. On the fourth pitch, Maldonado cleared the Maine Monster left-field wall for a grand slam and a 6-0 lead. He is second in the Eastern League with 24 home runs.
The bullpen allowed four more runs. Allan Dykstra hit a solo home run in the ninth.
The Sea Dogs finally got on the scoreboard in the eight inning. Hazelbaker and Alex Hassan began the inning with back-to-back singles. Hassan was erased on a double play, as Hazelbaker reached third. He scored on Reynaldo Rodriguez’s infield single.
With the win, the Mets (54-71) moved a game ahead of last-place Portland (53-72) in the Eastern League East Division.
NOTES: Middlebrooks made his Triple-A debut Friday, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
Staff writer Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or:
kthomas@pressherald.com
Twitter: ClearTheBases
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