For the second straight game, Red Sox prospect Yoan Moncada was given a day off Wednesday.

Portland Sea Dogs Manager Carlos Febles said Moncada is healthy – Moncada took part in batting practice and put in extra fielding practice at third and the outfield – and will be in the lineup Thursday.

Portland Sea Dogs player Ryan Court celebrates Rainel Rosario's fourth-inning grand slam against Erie at Hadlock Field in Portland on Wednesday. Sea Dogs outfielder Cole Sturgeon, also knocked home on the play, smiles in the background at right. Portland held on for a 5-4 win. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

So what were the Sea Dogs to do without the $63 million man? Well, for starters they won, beating the Erie SeaWolves 5-4 before 4,941 at Hadlock Field.

Portland didn’t have Moncada’s pop but Rainel Rosario filled in nicely, dropping a grand slam over the left-field wall in the fourth inning.

Moncada was not there to lead off, but Aneury Tavarez jumped in and went 3 for 5 with a run and stolen base.

Taking Moncada’s place at second base was utility infielder Tzu-Wei Lin, who made two sensational plays. With runners on second and third in the fifth, Lin raced into right field and caught a bloop just inside the foul line. In the seventh, he hustled to glove a hard grounder up the middle, turned and made a leaping throw to first for the out.

And the Sea Dogs got enough pitching. Jalen Beeks (3-2), the left-hander promoted from Salem in June, allowed four runs on eight hits and no walks in six innings, striking out six.

“Beeks got hit around a little bit but managed to give us six innings,” Febles said.

Williams Jerez pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Ben Taylor added a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save, lowering his ERA to 2.08.

Down 3-1, with the bases loaded and two outs, Rosario hit a fly ball that cleared the left-field wall.

“When I hit it I didn’t know if it would stay in or go out,” said Rosario, who hit a split-fingered fastball from David Martinez (1-2). “The first grand slam in my career and we win the game.”

Tavarez scored Portland’s first run after singling in the first, moving to third on Mauricio Dubon’s double and scoring on Nate Freiman’s sacrifice fly. Tavarez is batting .318.

“This is a guy who has been put in different spots in the lineup and is contributing in a big way,” Febles said. “Nobody talks about him but he’s been one of our most consistent hitters.”
The Sea Dogs (42-67) have won three straight. Erie is 44-66.

NOTES: Despite his work at third base, when Moncada rejoins the lineup it will be back at second. Febles said moving to third base “is a big adjustment … but I don’t think it will take a long time because (Moncada) is so athletic and he’s done it in the past.” Thursday is the last weekday matinee game of the season, starting at noon. … Friday’s game has been bumped up an hour to 6 p.m. to accommodate a rescheduled fireworks show. Sea Dogs pitcher Teddy Stankiewicz was back at Hadlock Field a day after pitching the first nine-inning, complete-game one-hitter in Sea Dogs history. Stankiewicz left right after the game because his father was hospitalized with kidney stones. Stankiewicz said that his dad is fine. As for his career-best performance, “everything worked together. I worked off all my pitches and the location was on point … I’ve been working on normal things that needed to be addressed and tweaking stuff. I’m starting to figure it out more and more every day.”

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