MANCHESTER, N.H. — Keith Couch threw seven strong innings and Stefan Welch drove in two runs Friday night as the Portland Sea Dogs defeated the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4-3 in front of 7,012 fans at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

First-place Portland improved to 82-50 with its seventh straight victory and remained 21/2 games ahead of the second-place Binghamton Mets in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League.

Couch improved to 8-1, allowing seven hits and two earned runs over seven innings.

Robby Scott struck out the side in a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Noe Ramirez gave up a one-out double in the ninth, then closed the door to secure his 15th save.

“Couch has been real good all year. He’s been very reliable. He usually pitches deep into ballgames. It was a good effort from him,” Portland Manager Billy McMillon said.

“Scott came in for a scoreless eighth and Noe pitched around a double to secure the save. All three did a really good job tonight. (New Hampshire) has been playing well. Limiting them to three runs is good.”

Portland broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of runs in the sixth. Mike Miller led off with a single and Sean Coyle followed with a base hit. Keury De La Cruz then drilled a liner up the middle that hit pitcher Casey Lawrence in the leg and bounced to second base.

Miller was able to score on the play and all the runners were safe. Michael Almanzar then grounded into a double play, but Coyle scored for the 4-2 lead. Welch struck out to end the inning.

New Hampshire got one run back in the seventh. Catcher Derrick Chung led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Matt Newman grounded out, pushing Chung to third. Jorge Flores then doubled down the left-field line to score Chung. Jon Berti walked, but Couch worked out of trouble by striking out Melky Mesa and Andy Burns to end the threat with the lead intact. The relievers did the rest.

New Hampshire led 1-0 after one inning on an error off the bat of Berti, a single from Mesa and an RBI fielder’s choice from Burns.

Portland made it 1-1 on a home run to right field by Welch in the top of the second.

The Sea Dogs took their first lead in the top of the fourth on a two-out single from De La Cruz and a Welch RBI single to make it 2-1.

New Hampshire made it 2-2 in the fourth on an RBI single from K.C. Hobson to score Brad Glenn, who had walked.

Portland knows it will face Binghamton in the playoffs but other than that, McMillon said he doesn’t concern himself with the standings.

“New Hampshire is on the schedule today, we try to win today. I couldn’t even tell you who Binghamton is playing,” McMillon said. “We already know that we’ll play Binghamton in the playoffs. The only thing that needs to be decided is where the first game is going to be played. We’re just trying to win every ball game.”