MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sean Coyle, out for most of the last month with a hamstring injury, made a successful return to the Portland Sea Dogs lineup on Friday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

Coyle ripped a Randy Boone pitch into the left-field corner for a two-out, run-scoring double in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Sea Dogs to a 4-3 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Coyle, an infielder and the designated hitter on Friday night, knocked in Travis Shaw. Shaw singled to lead off the inning, went to second on a fielder’s choice and third on a wild pitch.

“It’s awesome to be back playing,” Coyle said. “I was just looking for something that kind of caught the middle of the plate, something I could put in play hard. I put a good swing on the ball.”

Coyle also had the first Portland hit and scored the team’s first run in the second inning.

“He did a lot of work when he was hurt, tracking pitches, batting practice and stuff so it wasn’t that much of a stretch for him to jump right back in there,” said Portland Manager Billy McMillon.

Advertisement

Coyle’s hit made a winner of relief pitcher Noe Ramirez.

Ramirez did not allow a hit in his three innings after taking over for starter Mike Augliera. He struck out one and walked one.

Augliera allowed five hits and three runs over his seven innings. He struck out three and walked one.

“They both did a real good job,” McMillon said. “They attacked the strike zone and mixed their pitches well.”

Catcher Blake Swihart had three of Portland’s 11 hits and Peter Hissey and Henry Ramos joined Coyle with two apiece.

Mookie Betts played second base and had a tough night at the plate. He went 0 for 5, struck out twice and grounded into a double play to end the fourth.

Advertisement

The Sea Dogs won their sixth straight game and 10th in their last 11 and improved to 32-15.

The Fisher Cats, who snapped their 11-game losing streak on Thursday night, fell to 16-31.

New Hampshire rallied from 3-0 down to get the game tied, but could not handle Coyle at the end.

Deven Marrero was back at shortstop after sitting out the last two games after jamming his finger and was hitless in five at-bats.

Coyle, who upped his batting average from .316 to .323, came off the disabled list and replaced catcher Michael Brenly on the active roster. Brenly went on the disabled list.

Coyle led off the second inning with a single and scored one out later on Hissey’s triple to left center. Hissey scored on Shannon Wilkerson’s sacrifice fly to right.

Advertisement

The Sea Dogs rallied for a two-out run in the third to go up 3-0. Ramos and Swihart singled and Ramos scored when Coyle reached on a fielding error by third baseman Andy Burns.

Left fielder Ryan Schimpf drilled a ball over the fence in right field to get one back for the Fisher Cats in the bottom of the fourth.

New Hampshire tied it in the bottom of the fifth.

With one out, Kevin Nolan was hit by a pitch and Matt Newman singled. Kenny Wilson lined a shot to right field and ended up with a two-run triple when Ramos dove unsuccessfully for the ball.


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.