If Sea Dogs second baseman Yoan Moncada was bothered by his five-strikeout performance Sunday, he certainly didn’t show it Monday at Hadlock Field.

Moncada started a nifty double play in the first inning to help Portland starter Kevin McAvoy out of a jam and then lined a 97 mph fastball into center field to snap a 1-for-20 slump and set the tone for a 5-2 Sea Dogs victory over the Trenton Thunder in an Eastern League game shortened by rain.

“I didn’t change anything,” Moncada said through interpreter/shortstop Mauricio Dubon. “A bad day is going to happen. It’s baseball. Yeah, I felt happy I got a base-hit my first time at bat, but it’s not going to be the last time I get five strikeouts.”

Rain started to fall in the top of the seventh as McAvoy (7-5) was retiring 12 of the last 14 batters he faced. The downpour became heavy and was accompanied by thunder and lightning.

After a delay of 54 minutes, and with the possibility of more rain, the umpiring crew in consultation with both managers declared the game complete.

McAvoy walked the game’s first batter and fell behind the second, Dustin Fowler, before Moncada picked off Fowler’s hard grounder and, from a considerable distance, backhanded a flip to Dubon to start the double play.

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McAvoy retired the next four batters and ran into trouble only in the third, when Trenton scored both its runs with help from a walk and two singles. He didn’t allow a hit or a walk the rest of the game, and struck out four.

“I think that was huge for (McAvoy),” catcher Jake Romanski said of the early double play. “He could relax a little bit. He wasn’t so uptight. It helped him get back in the zone.”

The Sea Dogs broke through in their half of the third against Trenton starter Will Carter, who was making his Double-A debut. Cole Sturgeon led off with a walk. Rainel Rosario then beat out a chopper over the mound and Moncada was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Dubon hustled to avoid a double play, allowing Sturgeon to score.

Then Andrew Benintendi punched a humpbacked liner to center. It looked as if a charging Fowler might make the catch with a diving attempt. Instead, it bounced past him for a two-run triple.

“The ball got in on me a little bit, so obviously I didn’t square it up the best I could,” said Benintendi. “It was a tough play and he was trying to make a good play and it was just fortunate for us that it got by him.”

With the infield pulled in to prevent Benintendi from scoring, Nate Freiman’s grounder to short squirted through Trenton’s Tyler Wade to make it 4-2.

The Sea Dogs added another run in the sixth on a two-out double by Sturgeon that scored Cody Decker.

NOTES: Romanski took a foul ball off his right foot in the exact spot he was hit early in Sunday’s game. … Moncada became the fourth Sea Dog in franchise history to fan five times in one game. The other three: Sean Coyle (2014), Brandon Moss (2006) and Nate Rolison (1999). … Announced paid attendance was 4,167. … Red Sox special assistant Jason Varitek is in town working with Portland catchers through Wednesday.


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