PORTLAND — This was not the Hadlock Field debut Portland Sea Dogs fans expected from Chris Balcom-Miller.
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Balcom-Miller had pitched well on the road in two games since being promoted to Double-A.
But on Friday, Balcom-Miller gave up six runs in the first inning and did not finish the second as the Bowie Baysox defeated Portland, 7-3.
The thing is, Balcom-Miller (1-2) did not pitch that badly.
Of the six runs, only three were earned. And it’s possible Bowie should not have scored in the first inning. But a couple of reachable fly balls dropped in the outfield, and a catchable line drive got out of the infield for a double.
“It’s unfortunate because we didn’t play defense behind him,” Sea Dogs Manager Kevin Boles said. “I thought he attacked the zone. I thought he had good stuff. But we didn’t take care of the baseball.
“We gave them nine extra outs.”
Balcom-Miller, 22, is the right-handed prospect acquired from the Colorado Rockies last year. He was 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA in Class A Salem before his promotion to the Sea Dogs.
But he got little support on Friday. Besides the hits that should not have dropped in, the Sea Dogs committed five errors.
When Portland second baseman Oscar Tejeda made two errors in the sixth inning, Boles came out to make a pitching change and then called the infielders to the mound.
“I wanted to set up the infield,” Boles said. “I told them to stay aggressive. It looked like we were sitting back a little bit.”
Kyle Fernandes and Eammon Portice followed Balcom-Miller and combined to allow five hits and one unearned run in 7 1/3 innings. Portice retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced.
Portland got a run in the first inning on Jeremy Hazelbaker’s triple followed by Jon Hee’s single, another in the fifth on Mitch Dening’s RBI groundout, and the final run in the seventh on Will Vazquez’s RBI double.
Bowie starter Choyne Spoone (1-3) allowed two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings.
NOTES: The Sea Dogs have listed today’s starter as TBA. Stolmy Pimentel and Michael Lee are candidates. The announced paid attendance was 5,168. Reliever Blake Maxwell found himself at Hadlock Field for a third stint with the Sea Dogs this season. He was first promoted from Portland to Triple-A Pawtucket on May 5, came back June 1, was sent up again June 8 and returned again Friday. Maxwell has done OK in Triple-A (3.38 ERA), but the crowd of pitchers in Pawtucket makes him the odd man out. How does he handle the constant moving? “I guess I have to,” Maxwell said, smiling.
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:
kthomas@pressherald.com
Twitter: ClearTheBases
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