BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The unearned runs – and the losses that go with them – continue to mount for the Portland Sea Dogs.

Gavin Cecchini’s second-inning grand slam produced four unearned runs Saturday night and carried the Binghamton Mets to a 5-2 Eastern League victory.

Cecchini, who was added to the Eastern League All-Star Game on Thursday, turned in an All-Star caliber performance. In addition to his grand slam, he was sharp at shortstop.

Portland is 8-27 since May 27, a stretch that started after they won the first two games of their previous series in Binghamton. They are 4-16 over the past three weeks.

An error again contributed to the downfall.

Third baseman Jantzen Witte dropped a potential double-play ball on his backhand side in the second inning to load the bases with none out.

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Cecchini’s two-out grand slam increased Portland’s league-high total to 62 unearned runs on the season. No other Eastern League team has more than 50.

William Cuevas, the Sea Dogs’ leader in wins, dropped to 7-5 without allowing an earned run in his five innings.

Cecchini, a first-round draft pick in 2012, has hits in five straight games to put his average at .277. He lined a 2-0 pitch to left field just over the reach of a sprinting, jumping attempt by left fielder Aneury Tavarez.

“At 2-0, obviously that third pitch is a good pitch for you to drive,” Cecchini said. “I was able to put a good swing on it and be aggressive.”

Tavarez had already made a tough catch going back and to his right at the fence to end the first inning with a runner in scoring position. He hurried back and slightly left, getting his glove up over the top of the fence, but just missing.

“I knew I hit it pretty well,” Cecchini said, “but it was kind of a line drive so I didn’t know if it was going to have enough height and distance.”

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Aderlin Rodriguez added a solo homer for Binghamton in the seventh.

The Sea Dogs struck out 11 times with six hits.

One of those strikeouts, however, produced the game’s first run.

Manuel Margot had singled and reached second on a passed ball with two outs in the second. When catcher Xorge Castillo dropped the third strike on Tavarez, he wound up throwing into right field for a three-base error, allowing Castillo to score.

The Sea Dogs got a run back in the third on doubles by Cole Sturgeon and Witte, but didn’t score again. The eighth inning was the only time the rest of the way that they got a runner into scoring position.

Michael Fulmer (3-1) allowed one earned run while holding the Sea Dogs to two runs on four hits in six innings. Three relievers finished up, including Jon Velasquez, who got his ninth save in 10 tries with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.


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