TRENTON, N.J. – One bad inning and one tough pitcher did in the Portland Sea Dogs.

Dellin Betances overpowered Portland’s hitters and the Trenton Thunder scored five runs in the fifth inning for a 7-1 victory Wednesday night at Waterfront Park.

An intimidating presence at 6-foot-8, 280 pounds, Betances allowed four hits in five innings, striking out five. His only blemish was Mitch Dening’s home run in the fifth.

“There’s a lot to like,” Sea Dogs Manager Kevin Boles said of Betances, the top-rated pitching prospect in the New York Yankees’ system, according to Baseball America.

“Obviously he’s got the real strong body. He’s got some sink to his fastball, a real good breaking ball, a real good feel for his off-speed and mound presence. He just attacked the zone. A lot to like with him, absolutely.”

Like Betances, Portland starter Stolmy Pimentel is a coveted prospect. Pimentel wasn’t dom-inating like his counterpart but pitched better than his line, which read 41/3 innings, eight hits, four runs, two walks and three strikeouts.

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He departed after 80 pitches with runners on first and third, having allowed two runs.

Left-handed reliever Tommy Hottovy, who has been stellar for Portland this season, allowed both of those runs to score and three more of his own in a forgettable fifth inning that did in the Sea Dogs.

“Yeah, I wanted to keep going but that’s a situation I can’t control,” Pimentel said. “I know we have a count for pitchers.”

The sixth-rated prospect in Boston’s system, according to Baseball America, Pimentel fell to 0-4 although run support has been an issue.

“I need to keep working, keep patient, try to do my best,” Pimentel said. “Sometimes things don’t go like you want, but you have to keep going and prepare for the next time. Sometimes you have good starts, sometimes you have bad starts, but the only thing you can do is keep going no matter what.”

Pimentel had the Sea Dogs right in the game, down 2-1 entering Trenton’s fifth when it unraveled.

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Dan Brewer led off the inning with a double, and Austin Romine followed with a single to put runners on first and third. Boles lifted Pimentel for Hottovy after Bradley Suttle flied to center for the first out.

Hottovy had allowed one run in 13 innings and none in his last 11, but the Thunder got to him.

Cody Johnson’s infield single to deep short scored Brewer to make it 3-1. After Hottovy struck out Melky Mesa for the second out, he walked Corban Joseph to load the bases. Jose Pirela then cleared the bags with a triple to left-center to make it 6-1. Addison Maruszak singled home Pirela for a five-run inning and a 7-1 lead.

Hottovy was perfect in his final two innings, but the damage had been done. His ERA jumped from 0.69 entering the game to 2.30.

“He’s a guy we’ve relied on,” Boles said of Hottovy. “He’s been strong throughout this first month. He’s been a quality reliever for us.”

Boles also wasn’t displeased with Pimentel’s outing.

“He did his job,” Boles said. “I thought he attacked the zone. He developed some feel for his off-speed as the game went on. I thought there were some balls that we could have got to that we didn’t tonight. I thought he did a real nice job.”

 

SEA DOGS NOTES: Dening has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games. Will Middlebrooks went 2 for 4, his ninth multihit game of the season. Alex Hassan went 0 for 3, only the third time in 23 games he hasn’t gotten a hit. Tim Federowicz went 0 for 4 and is 0 for 13 in the series.


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