ALTOONA, Pa. — The Portland Sea Dogs apparently are over their long slump.

After wading through a horrendous month of May, the Sea Dogs now have won four straight after beating the Altoona Curve 4-0 Saturday night.

“We are playing quality defense, but it starts with our starting pitching,” said Portland Manager Kevin Boles. “We have been getting some quality starts and tonight, our bullpen did its job.

“It starts with the guy on the mound; obviously our defense is playing a lot better and we are swinging the bats, too.”

On the heels of a strong pitching effort by Jeremy Kehrt in Friday night’s 7-2 win, Alex Wilson gave the Sea Dogs another solid effort to pick up the win. Wilson allowed just two hits in six innings, walking two and striking out six.

“He had good fastball command and although he didn’t have to do it much, he pitched well out of the stretch,” said Boles.

“He kept his composure all the time and was able to work his way out of jams. He had a quality mix of all three of his pitches and he really threw the ball well tonight.”

Wilson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Brad Chalk lined a one-out single to left. The Curve loaded the bases with one out, but Wilson got Starling Marte to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

“I was able to locate my fastball early and often,” said Wilson. “Able to do that, that helped set up my slider when I had to throw something else.”

As for thinking about the possibility of a no-hitter, Wilson said although he knew it was happening, he didn’t want to let it get in the way of what he needed to do.

“I kind of knew the whole time just because I am kind of aware as to what is going on,” said Wilson. “It was the fifth inning and not the ninth inning, so I wasn’t really worried about that.

“When they got the first hit in the sixth, I missed my locations a little bit. But fortunately I was able to come back and get a few good pitches with my fastball and get the double play.”

After Wilson and Curve pitcher Mike Colla matched pitch for pitch through two scoreless innings, Jorge Padron gave the Sea Dogs a 1-0 lead when he belted a long home run to right field in the third.

Chih-Hsien Chiang increased the lead to 2-0 when he smacked a shot just over the right-field barrier.

Portland added a run in the fifth when Oscar Tejeda led off with a double and scored on a single to left by Jon Hee.

The Sea Dogs extended the string of getting a run an inning when Ryan Lavarnway hit the team’s third solo homer in the sixth.

Portland continued to show progress on offense, posting double-digit hits for the second game in a row. They had 10 hits after totaling 18 in Friday night’s win.

“I thought we had a quality approach at the plate tonight,” Boles said. “Their pitcher was really tough, especially to right-handers. He kept his fastball down, he was able to hit his four-seam spots and he also had a real good feel for his slider.

“Our guys stayed in there and a couple of our left-handed hitters were able to get to him, and we were able to keep a pretty good approach tonight.”

The teams conclude the three-game series tonight, with a 6 p.m. start.