The Portland Sea Dogs (4-4) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, winning their 2016 Eastern League home opener at Hadlock Field, 8-5 over the Hartford Yard Goats (5-3) on Thursday.

Kevin McAvoy (2-0) earned the win in his home debut for Portland, allowing two earned runs on just three hits in 5.2 innings, walking one and striking out five.

With two Sea Dogs on base and one out in the first inning, Rainel Rosario doubled off of Yard Goats’ starter Antonio Senzatela (1-1) to put Portland on the board. After Henry Ramos popped out, Jake Romanski delivered a two-out, two-run single to give the Dogs the 3-0 lead.

Senzatela went two-plus innings, allowing four hits, two walks and three earned runs. Carlos Hernandez relieved in the third inning and was hit hard, permitting eight hits and five earned runs over three frames.

The Sea Dogs doubled their lead in the fourth inning off of Hernandez with an RBI groundout from Romanski, an RBI double by Tim Roberson and an RBI single from Jose Vinicio.

The Sea Dogs added two more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Jantzen Witte and an RBI single by Romanski.

The Yard Goats made it interesting in the top of the eighth, scoring three runs off Luis Ysla, highlighted by a two-run home run by David Dahl, his league-leading fifth of the season.

The Yard Goats and Sea Dogs meet again tonight at Hadlock Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting seadogs.com or calling the ticket office at 879-9500.