MANCHESTER, N.H. — Tie game. Bottom of the ninth. Bases loaded. Two outs.

Portland Sea Dogs reliever John Cornely delivered a pitch, catcher Jake Romanski barely moved his glove, and everyone froze.

It was a ball.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats walked four times in the ninth for a 2-1 win Friday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

Cornely (0-1) got ahead of Kevin Nolan 1-2. But Cornely threw three straight balls to send in the winning run.

“That last pitch looked pretty good, but the umpire had it down,” Sea Dogs Manager Billy McMillon said.

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“Exciting game. Just unfortunate in the ninth.”

New Hampshire improved to 47-42. The Sea Dogs (32-61) lost their sixth straight.

The Sea Dogs managed only five hits, although they also walked five times.

Carlos Asuaje singled home Manuel Margot for Portland’s run.

Left-hander Danny Rosenbaum started his second game for the Sea Dogs and did not get a decision after going four innings (eight hits, one run, one walk, 81 pitches). He pitched only one inning in his previous start.

“It was good to see him rebound from his last start,” McMillon said.

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Rosenbaum, 27, was obtained by the Red Sox last January from Washington in a trade for former Sea Dogs catcher Dan Butler (now in Triple-A). He underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2014 and has made only six starts this year, the first four for Class A Lowell.

In the third inning, Rosenbaum pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam, getting a ground ball for a fielder’s choice at home and a foul pop-up caught by first baseman Sam Travis.

Portland scored in the top of the fourth. Margot singled and stole second (his sixth steal in eight attempts). He went to third on Reed Gragnani’s groundout to first and scored on Asuaje’s line-drive single to right.

New Hampshire finally got a run off Rosenbaum in the bottom of the fourth when K.C. Hobson launched a home run over the right-field wall for his 11th homer this season.

Heri Quevedo relieved Rosenbaum and pitched two hitless innings. Kyle Martin added 12/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Cornely got the last out of the eighth but began the ninth by walking Ian Parmley. After a sacrifice and an intentional walk, Cornely struck out Jon Berti and then walked Dwight Smith Jr. to load the bases.

The Sea Dogs had their chances to score, with runners on second base in the sixth, eighth and ninth. Travis led off the ninth with a 400-foot double to center but was stranded.

NOTES: Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart, who is with the Sea Dogs on a rehab assignment, took a scheduled day off. Swihart said he plans to stay with the team through its next home series, July 20-22 against the Trenton Thunder. … The announced paid attendance was 6,954. … Romanski threw out two runners trying to steal second base. He has a .364 caught-stealing percentage (8 of 22). … The Fisher Cats will start one of their top pitching prospects, Jeff Hoffman, in his Double-A debut Saturday. Hoffman, 22, a first-round draft pick in 2014, is the No. 33 prospect in the minors, according to Baseball America.


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