Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Bryce Harper pulled up as he rounded second base and, eventually there were groans in Portland.
Harper, the much-hyped prospect of the Washington Nationals, injured his right hamstring muscle in the Harrisburg Senators' game Thursday in Akron.
The Senators will be in Portland Monday for a three-game series and the Sea Dogs front office said there has been a "significant bump" in tickets sales, anticipating Harper's arrival. Harper T-shirts have been on sale ad the Hadlock Field gift shop.
But after Thursday's game, Harrisburg manager Tony Beasley told Jonas Fortune of the Akron Beacon Journal that he was not sure the extent of Harper's injury, but "I'm sure he'll be down for a while."
Sea Dogs fans can only hope Harper still shows up. Players on the disabled list normally travel with their team (although Harper is not your normal prospect). And he has been generous with his time signing autographs for kids.
We'll see.
In other prospect news (without the headlines that Harper attracts), the Red Sox called up Ryan Lavarnway. He became the second Sea Dogs player this year to reach the bigs, following Tommy Hottovy.
Lavarnway officially replaced Kevin Youkilis (DL with sore back) on the roster but is actually filling in for DH David Ortiz (right heel bursitis). Lavarnway went 0-for-4 (3 fly-outs to center and a strikeout).
In another debut, Alex Wilson made his first Triple-A start: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K.
Portland's Will Middlebrooks hit his 18th home run.
The Sea Dogs return to Hadlock tonight against the Binghamton Mets.
The Red Sox are back at it in Kansas City. Andrew Miller gets the spot start.
The standings:
AL East
New York 75-47
Boston 75-48 (.5 back)
Tampa Bay 66-56 (9)
Wild Card
Boston 75-48
Tampa Bay 65-57 (8.5 back)
Angels 66-59 (10 back)
Kevin Thomas covers baseball and basketball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 after working for the St. Petersburg Times. He is married to Nancy and they have nine children.
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on Clearing the Bases
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Celtics and Maine Red Claws on Holding Court
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