For the second time in less than 24 hours, a lopsided Portland Sea Dogs loss hinged on an unusual fielding play.

On Tuesday night, Trenton second baseman Cito Culver caught a hard throw with his bare hand and turned a double play as the energized Thunder saw a tie game morph into an 11-run rout.

On Wednesday afternoon, Culver’s shallow fly squirted out of the glove of Portland right fielder Rainel Rosario to spark a two-run rally that gave Trenton the lead for good in what turned out to be a 10-6 series-clinching victory.

A sun-baked crowd of 7,368 – many of them youngsters clad in color-coordinated summer camp T-shirts – saw the Sea Dogs rally from four runs down to take an early 6-5 lead.

“I like the way the guys fought back after being down,” said Portland Manager Carlos Febles. “You should feel pretty good about your club.”

Six players hit safely in the five-run third inning, knocking out Trenton starter Daniel Camarena.

Andrew Benintendi stroked a two-run double. Nate Freiman followed with a double. Ryan Court singled home a run. Jake Romanski doubled to put the Sea Dogs up 6-5.

But Trenton reliever Travis Hissong (1-0) quieted the offense with an effective slider and didn’t allow another hit over the next three innings. Caleb Smith and Tyler Jones followed for another three innings of one-hit relief.

Portland starter Teddy Stankiewicz recovered from a rough third inning in which Dustin Fowler’s three-run homer capped a five-run uprising by facing just three batters in each of the other four innings he pitched.

“Performance-wise I felt really good,” Stankiewicz said. “I started off great and then in the third inning, I got a couple guys on base and threw a hanging curveball. (Fowler) hit it well and got a home run off me. After that I just battled and located well.”

The game started to unravel for Portland when Culver reached on the error to open the sixth. Dante Bichette Jr. lined reliever Ty Buttrey’s next pitch for a double in the gap between Rosario and Benintendi in center. A grounder to Court at third erased Culver on a throw home, but Trenton tied the score when Michael O’Neill grounded a single through the box that barely eluded Buttrey. The go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-6.

Trenton added another run in the seventh and two in the ninth on Culver’s second home run of the season.

“As soon as that ball was dropped, I didn’t let it bother me,” said Buttrey (0-9, 4.82). “I moved on to the next hitter. But I left the ball up and (Bichette) put a good swing on it.”

The seventh inning could have been worse. It started with a walk, a throwing error by Buttrey on a potential double- play comebacker and a single to load the bases. But on Bichette’s subsequent liner to center, Benintendi held up his glove as if to make a catch, fielded the ball on one hop and threw to second for a force.

“That was awesome,” Febles said. “They could have had bases loaded, nobody out. Now it’s first and third and we get a double play to end the inning.”

The only other Sea Dogs highlight in the late going was Court’s third hit of the game, a one-out double in the eighth.

“When things go bad, it’s easy to sit there and blame the other guys,” Buttrey said. “But the way baseball is, you can’t do that. I have to go out here and execute pitches, and I missed a lot of opportunities to do that today.”

NOTES: Trenton was 6 of 13 with runners in scoring position. … The Thunder collected 31 hits and 25 runs after dropping the rain-shortened opener at Hadlock, 5-2. “At home it’s a real tough place to hit,” Bichette said of the ballpark in New Jersey. “Big field. Wind blows in. So when we come on the road, we usually hit really well.” … The Sea Dogs left for a four-game series at Binghamton. They host Erie and Akron on Aug. 2-7. … Buttrey, who has started nine games and relieved in 13, tries to be philosophical about his 0-9 record. “It definitely bothers me,” he said. “At the same time this is the minor leagues. This is development. I never sit there and dwell on my 0-9 record. … I know next year I’m going to be way better than I am this year. As negative as it is, you have to find positive in something so bad.”

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